Lonely Grave

There, in a very lonely grave out near the Shashi Weir

A mother and her baby daughter lie.

It's quiet there and peaceful, and the ground around is clear -

Just flowers that I planted days gone by.

There's some that think me crazy to befriend a woman dead -

For friend to me she's been for years;

There's nothing like a lonely grave to drive away the dread

And banish all my petty little fears.

Note: About six kilometers from Chemberi Village, on the old Murie Mine road, there is a lonely grave. It is well tended, and is kept clean. The headstone reads:

IN EVER LOVING MEMORY
OF
NINA ELLEN McBARNETT
DIED 3rd. NOVEMBER 1918
AGED 25 YEARS
BRAVE AND TRUE
ALSO INFANT DAUGHTER

This poem is dedicated to Nina Ellen McBarnett

Sydney E. Lassman, Rhodesia