The March

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To celebrate their sister

They marched against the rules

Of walking over long distances

Especially uphill in the rough.

 

But they marched

With their shouldered drum

And an upside-down flag held oblique,

Singing: 'Marching Along'.

 

With dropped feet and MCR [1] shoes

And timbrels gripped with a claw

They marched all determined

In October's blazing heat.

 

They marched dripping sweat (if they could) [2]

But sang with deepest feeling (though some had none) [3]

And yodelled their love

For their sister.

  

Residents of the Chikankata Leprosy Settlement say goodbye to Joy Hetherington.

October 1973
 
[1]  Micro-cellular rubber

[2]  Autonomic nerve damage can cause failure of sweating in leprosy

[3]  Sensory nerve damage - a feature of leprosy