A Coventry Carol (Traditional) Adapted By Martin Ward (In Memory Of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes) Poem by Martin Ward

Lully, lullah, thou little tiny child,
Bye bye, lully, lullay.
Thou little tiny child,
Bye bye, lully, lullay.

'No-one loves me, ' an innocent pleas,
amidst his penury.
A child of our time; no reason or rhyme
for unjust cruelty.

O sisters too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day
This poor youngling for whom we sing,
'Bye bye, lully, lullay'?

'No-one feeds me, ' an atrocity,
filmed for us all to see.
A chill photograph or child's epitaph,
forged from such cruelty.

Herod the king, in his raging,
Chargèd he hath this day
His men of might in his own sight
All young children to slay.

Frail and alone, in friendless home,
beaten and coldly slayed.
Failed to be saved by the love he craved;
yet one more child betrayed.

That woe is me, poor child, for thee
And ever mourn and may
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
'Bye bye, lully, lullay.'

Written upon the boarded house:
'Arthur, we all love you.'
A hint or trace of a better place
where love is warm and true.