Classic Poem

She stares from out the wagon as
It trails the dimming road,
A huddled unkempt being bowed
Beneath life's driving goad.

On, on through torrid summer days,
And chill and waning year,
On, on through miles of trackless waste,
Where grinning white skulls leer.

The never-ending grind of days
And nights—the dusk—the dawn—
A checkerboard of tortures where
She moves, a helpless pawn.

She stares from out the wagon as
She dreams of other days—
A youth and a maid—a shaded path
Where fragrant hawthorn sways.

Her little hand, so soft, he kissed
And smoothed her curls so fair—
She twists with fumbling fingers now
The wisp of tangled hair.

Back home! back home! her haunted eyes
Have long since ceased to weep,
She only stares and huddles now
A broken, unkempt heap.

The lure of unknown lands had called
To him, her lover bold;
Beyond the hills and plains there lay
A country steeped in gold.

The spirit of adventure thrilled!
His man heart all forgot
The promises he made to her
Who vowed to share his lot.

The little home beside the hedge
Where hawthorne grew bereft;
Lone canvas covered wanderings
Were all she now had left.

Lone wanderings and memories—
She was no soldier brave
In search of wild adventurings
And desert lands to save!

She was a woman who had dreamed
Of children and a home;
It lay, her child, on bleaching plain
Beneath a pile of stone.

On, on the wagon creeps apace;
Her staring eyes a tale
Of tragedy so great no pen
Can paint her soul's travail.

The stirring stories told of men
Who fought and won new land
From its primeval enemies
Forget that in the band

Were women torn by pain and grief
Who stood staunch by man's side
Upheld by naught that spurred him on,
Adventure—conquest—pride.

A woman's way, to long for peace,
A man's, to long for war;
A woman's lot to sacrifice
For man, the conqueror.

The woman in the wagon fought
Her silent fight alone;
The grim renunciation of
Her people—children—home.

Oh, pioneers, you valiant men!
Would you have stood the test—
Without the woman in the wagon,
Would you have won the West?