Immigrant Girls

I wrote this quickly this afternoon because I wanted to post it on the 100th Anniversary of the Triangle fire tragedy.    No music for it.   Yet.   Maybe later.  


IMMIGRANT GIRLS (The 1911 Triangle Fire Tragedy)
copyright March 25,  2011 Dan Sullivan

They said the building was fireproof
So on the eighth and ninth floors
Where Immigrant Girls sewed garments
They locked the exit doors
When the fire broke out that day
There was nowhere else to go
They could stay  and die in flames
Or jump to their death below

So say a prayer for the Immigrant Girls
Who died on that long ago day
Never forget the reason they died
And always remember their names

The fire trucks arrived quickly
As a crowd watched in horror
But the ladders they brought couldn’t reach
Up to the higher floors
Where  girls screamed from windows
With only seconds left to decide
What their final thoughts would be
And which way they wanted to die

So say a prayer for the Immigrant Girls
Who died on that long ago day
Never forget the reason they died
And always remember their names
　
The funeral march to the gravesite
Was made in a pouring rain
Mourners lined  New York streets
Four hundred thousand came
Now once a year the church bells ring
And for a moment heads are bowed
In memory of Immigrant Girls
Each name is read aloud

So say a prayer for the Immigrant Girls
Who died on that long ago day
Never forget the reason they died
And always remember their names