Fingerprints

FINGERPRINTS
CHARLTON LAWRENCE EDHOLM
5981

Five little fingers’ print
On walls, on chairs, on the pane,
All through the house our monarch makes
That sign and seal of his reign

Five little fingers’ print
On mother’s throat to her breast,
Where seeks our weary king repose
When fledgelings creep to the nest

Five little fingers’ print
On father’s collar so white;
No mark of favor e’er bestowed
A’king on lealer knight

Five little fingers, they
May yet hold power above
An empire’s fate, or woman’s heart
But no such realm as our love

Five little fingers’ print
On walls, on chairs, on the pane