May 2014
I traveled west to the sunset
where the desert begins to roast
the heat baked down, on every town
across the plain onto the coast
I came upon an old Buick
a woman two children in curls
Their dreams stranded, their car branded
a look of sorrow on the girls
I pulled my pickup in behind
walked to the window said "hello"
Offered a ride, "its cool inside
come with me and we'll find a tow"
At first they wouldn't come along
choosing instead to stay and bake
"We'll have to stay, cause I can't pay
I think this trip was a mistake"
The girls were all of ten years old
their pain had tested their belief
Innocent pawns, of sun-baked bronze
whose pleading eyes begged for relief
I saw in them the Grapes of Wrath
headed west on little money
relief from strife, a better life
in the land of milk and honey
I took them ten miles down the road
an oasis like a mirage
A bit of luck, found a tow truck
had the car towed to the garage
We shared a lunch that afternoon
their radiator was repaired
I'd eased their trials, restored their smiles
it felt good to know I had cared.
Their mother dreamed of better things
for her little girls in this life
She wanted more, than to live poor
as an abusers little wife
I never gave the girl my name
fighting against my vanity
Theirs was a goal, that saved my soul
sharing with them humanity
Tate
© 2013 Tate Morgan
Written
April 29, 2013
where the desert begins to roast
the heat baked down, on every town
across the plain onto the coast
I came upon an old Buick
a woman two children in curls
Their dreams stranded, their car branded
a look of sorrow on the girls
I pulled my pickup in behind
walked to the window said "hello"
Offered a ride, "its cool inside
come with me and we'll find a tow"
At first they wouldn't come along
choosing instead to stay and bake
"We'll have to stay, cause I can't pay
I think this trip was a mistake"
The girls were all of ten years old
their pain had tested their belief
Innocent pawns, of sun-baked bronze
whose pleading eyes begged for relief
I saw in them the Grapes of Wrath
headed west on little money
relief from strife, a better life
in the land of milk and honey
I took them ten miles down the road
an oasis like a mirage
A bit of luck, found a tow truck
had the car towed to the garage
We shared a lunch that afternoon
their radiator was repaired
I'd eased their trials, restored their smiles
it felt good to know I had cared.
Their mother dreamed of better things
for her little girls in this life
She wanted more, than to live poor
as an abusers little wife
I never gave the girl my name
fighting against my vanity
Theirs was a goal, that saved my soul
sharing with them humanity
Tate
© 2013 Tate Morgan
Written
April 29, 2013
It was 1998. I was crossing the western dessert to the coast. I remember this woman and her two little girls. How scared they were to be on the road alone and broke down. The sun was so relentless that day. I was on a trip to southern California to deliver a box to the docks. I had a hard time convincing them to go with me. I paid the mechanic to fix the car and gave the woman money for gas. The little girls so like my own. The mechanic brought their car around. The girls were drinking pop on the bench outside the diner, awash in smiles as I drove off toward the setting sun. I know they thought that I had been a godsend. What they didn't know was that they had given me much more than I did them. I found my thoughts drifting back to my own children and thinking of how blessed I was.
