Sweet southern hostess ladies, primly clad
and buttoned-up, how dare they call you wild?
As faithfully you line our roads, you add
a glimpse of simple beauty undefiled.
What wealth of wisdom might your prudent lips
reveal, if asked, to those of us who wind
our way past thistled shoulders on our trips
without an inkling of the task assigned?
Perhaps you’d tell of pioneers who flinched
at coyote cries that filled the midnight air
but never lost the ground they’d gained or inched
a millimeter closer to despair.
We thank you for the legacy you bring
to Texas travelers each hopeful spring.
———
2002 Mary Boren
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