Five withered skeletons survive to tell
a luckless tale of what was in its day
a ranch – a stable, bunkhouse, loo and well,
a livestock barn with cockloft full of hay.
Abandoned now, and who knows when or why,
these shells stand bare, defeated by what came
from ice and storm to summer’s sunny sky.
Three fenced-in graves – an ending to the game?
A four-lane highway passes miles away
where traffic speeds along with scarce a thought
to olden days, to men who came and fought
the elements. Some won but many lost.
Deserted, broken dreams evince the cost
hardworking souls surrendered on this plot.
—
© 2014 Eric Linden