Wagon Wheels

                   Hallowed scenes from yesterday
                   Keep passing through my mind
                   Of wagon wheels and their old-time way
                   And the tales they left behind

                   As silent today as they may be
                   I still hear the creaking sound
                   Echoes linger so pleasantly
                   On every road I travel down

                   Hauling supplies was a necessity
                   And hauling crops even more
                   The old wagons came in handy
                   For any and every chore

                   Patience became a virtue
                   It was the only way around
                   With every mile the journey grew
                   It became an all day trip to town

                  When church bells did ring
                  The old wagons continued to steer
                  Each family they would bring
                  As they traveled far and near

                  The old wagon wheels kept turning
                  For many a dusty mile
                  When progress started churning
                  They quietly went out of style

                  It was a very different time
                  When wagons were at their best
                  The were truly one of a kind
                  Now they deserve a rest

                 Those grand old wagon wheels
                 Surely holds the key
                 Down country roads and hills
                 Locked forever in our memory

I was inspired to write this poem in memory of my Dad. He was born in 1904 and died in 1998.  Although he wasn't highly educated, he was a wealth of knowledge, like an open history book. He told while growing up there wasn't any other way to travel besides walking, but by wagons. He and his dad would drive an old wagon to town for supplies and it would take the whole day just to get there and back. People would depend on those old wagons to take them everywhere. But as the years passed and a few vehicles came along, my dad would walk to town, or at least start out walking. When he got to the main road someone would always come along and pick him up. It was always someone he knew, because everybody knew everybody else. My dad was no exception. It seemed everyone knew daddy, and the ones that didn't know him got to know him really fast. He never met a stranger. He told how he walked to work and left out really early in the morning and never got back home until late in the night. He never made much money, but back then it seemed to be enough to get by with. He worked hard all of his life for very little money, and away from home after he and mama married and us kids came along. He worked on road construction and there were times he couldn't make it home for two or three weeks. We sure were glad to see him when he did make it in home, except for the ones that were promised a whipping with good reason of course.

 I could write all day about the things my dad has told over the years and how things were so different in his life-time but I'll stop for now with this one verse from "Wagon Wheels".  I think this verse was meant for him as well..                   It was a very different time
                               When daddy was at his best
                                He was truly one of a kind
                                Now he deserves a rest

And with that I'll only say ...Thank you Daddy for teaching me the history lessons, and what a great history teacher you were..  Poem Published April 2010   Susie Swanson