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Vintage Colorado Poetry Past Poet Laureate Poem of the Week March 15, 2004

Clyde Robertson was in her eighties in 1952 when she was named Colorado's third poet laureate. She died in 1954. "The Woman in the Wagon," written in the mid-1920s, details the suffering of women during the great trek West of the previous century.  Unexpectedly, the poem ends with a wicked question.

The Woman in the Wagon 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 of 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 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 hawthorn grew---bereft, Lone canvas-covered wanderings    Were all she now had left.                      Please click, page 2