Yes child, come in

Thank you, sir

Are you well, do they take good care of you?

Yes sir, thank you sir



Is there anything you need

Would you like some toys, or books or dolls perhaps?

Might I

Speak up, child



Might I have a bit of earth, sir?

A bit of earth?

To plant seeds in, yes sir, a garden

Do you care about gardens so much, then?



(I didn't know about them in India, I was always ill and tired)

A bit of earth?

(And it was too hot, I sometimes played at making little flower beds)

(Sticking things in the sand)



She wants a little bit of earth

She'll plant some seeds

The seeds will grow, the flowers bloom

But is their bounty what she needs?



How can she chance

To love a little bit of earth?

Does she not know?

The earth is old, and doesn't care if

One small girl wants things to grow



She needs a friend

She needs a father, brother, sister, mother's arms

She needs to laugh

She needs to dance and learn to work her girlish charms



She needs a home

The only thing she really needs, I cannot give

Instead she asks, a bit of earth, to make it live



She should have a pony

Gallop cross the moor

She should have a doll's house

With a hundred rooms per floor



Why can't she ask for a treasure?

Something that money can buy, that won't die

When I'd give her the world

She asks, instead for some earth



A bit of earth

She wants a little bit of earth

She'll plant some seeds

The seeds will grow, the flowers bloom

Their beauty, just the thing she needs



She'll grow to love the tender roses

Lilies fair, the iris tall

And then in fall, her bit of earth

Will freeze and kill them all

A bit of earth, a bit of earth

A bit of earth, a bit of earth