They Looked At Her Differently

They look at mommy differently.
After she came to get checked.
She had a rough childhood
and was trying to give me the best.
They whispered in her ear
and she started to cry.
They looked at her differently
and I didn't know why.

She stopped taking me with her
and started working more
so I went to school
while she worked our land alone.
People looked at her differently
since daddy was gone.
They looked at her differently
since he'd been gone so long.

They muttered under their breaths
and would call her hurtful names.
They looked at her differently
and she started getting weak
when I asked what was the matter
her voice started to shake.
I'll looked at her differently
as she started to speak.

"It's time you grow up now,
its time you worked our land.
I love baby and someday you'll understand."
I looked at her differently
as she told me she was sick.
She told me what the doctors said
and about the cure they had.
I looked at her differently
the way they all had.

I told her I'd go get the cure
and she told me I couldn't.
Even if we sold everything
we still wouldn't have enough.
Mommy stayed in bed,
and I tried to break the ground.
She grew weak,
and I wasn't strong enough.

People at me differently
when I went to get us food.
Then the disease took Mommy,
I could barely break the ground
and they wouldn't even look at me
as I grew older and years went by.
They looked at me differently
I looked at them just the same.

Others started getting ill
and more children started to work.
Doctors came saying epidemic.
People died and the disease spread,
killing so many people.
Doctors started offering medicine,
and people stopped looking at me differently.

They looked at her differently
and called her ugly names.
They looked at me differently
because I had to work our land.
She didn't make it,
now they're just like her,
and I still look at them differently
since they did to her.

It's taken so many lives
everyone looks differently now.
My family works the land
and my children go to school.
Each night we pray for another day
where we don't have to
look at each other differently.