What The Walls Forgot

Her voice banished walls, and "coyotee" calls
Would wash newer noises away;
I'd hear eagles scream, and mountains would gleam,
On different horizons each day.

Revived by her words, the buffalo herds
Again roamed the prairie she knew;
Were slaughtered again, plain seeded to grain,
When "sodbustin' farmers" came through.

She often retold how "Charlie" was bold
Enough to set blooded studs free;
To join a wild bunch, 'cause he had a hunch,
Their "get" would remount cavalry.

They could have sold more, "come the Civil War"
But left a seed herd running free;
And "Young Bob" wed my grandma instead,
And started his own "fambily".

A found "massacree' became real to me
As things she kept on her shelves;
Her stories went on, but wilderness gone,
The plains were like ghosts of themselves.

When pierced by the rails paralleling old trails
That horses bestowed on the West;
And worst yet fenced, the prairie commenced,
"Tuh shrivel and shrink", like the rest.

Then she'd story North, whee they had gone forth
On a quest for more untamed land;
Of Alaska, and how they'd gone on,
To the Yukon's promising sand.

The mustangers died, but seed scattered wide
Carried on in a world they spurned;
Where wild things are lost, and few heed the cost
Of values we see overturned.

What I am today, I owe in some way
To stories she pulled from the gloom;
To cowboys and kin who lived once again,
When the walls forgot Grandmother's room.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Posted: Apr 2011
About this poem:
The memories shared to me by a great-grandparent.

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Comments (8)

Macduff5
Hi Mary..firstly I really liked your poem. It reminded me very much of an Australian poet called Judith Wright who wrote a poem called "South of My Days". It has that same pioneering family history quality to it. cheers
mcradloff
Grandma, there's gold in them thar hills!rolling on the floor laughing bunny
Fellsman
Hi Mary

A rattling good yarn, pacey and attention holding right to the end...

Regards

Bill x teddybear
nabii
Lovely write
ReaderOfSouls
Howdy Rob cowboy

The poet you speak of sounds familiar. Glad you liked this one. hug heart wings teddybear
ReaderOfSouls
Howdy Bill cowboy

I'm glad you enjoyed this one. wine hug heart wings teddybear
ReaderOfSouls
Howdy Nabii cowboy

Glad you liked this. :) wine handshake
sophiasummer
beuatiful!yay teddybear
lovelly to see youbouquet

Soph
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