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A Ballad of Fortune
“Be brave now, my darlin’,
We’re migrating West!
Let’s pack up our wagon
And then take a rest.
Tomorrow we’re starting—
At sunrise, is best.”
“But, Jimmy, I’m frightened,”
His young wife, she said.
“The perils are many;
We might end up dead.
I won’t have a kitchen!
I can’t bake our bread.”
“We’ll have an adventure!”
He tried to explain.
“Our horses will lead us
Through snow and the rain.
We’ll reach Sacramento.
There’s gold for the gain!”
Some settlers did find it,
The silver or gold.
But not so young Jimmy;
His prospects grew cold.
Perhaps in Alaska?
He wasn’t that bold!
So, learning his lesson,
That gold was a bust,
He polished his rifles
(Beginning to rust)
And hunted down rabbits.
That surely was just!
The skins of the rabbits,
He tanned in the shade
And sewed into blankets,
His wife to his aid.
And soon, very quickly,
A fortune they made—
Supplying the peddlers
Who dealt in the trade!
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Margaret Brinton has lived in San Diego’s inland valley area for over forty years where she taught and tutored. Her poems have recently been published in California Quarterly and Westward Quarterly and The Lyric with upcoming work in the greeting card industry.
Interesting ballad and one that represents the struggles of many who migrated westward. While failing to find the gold, they succeeded in other ways such as my uncle and aunt who did well in planting an orange grove near Santa Paula. I suppose one could say they found gold in another sense.
Thank you, Roy. There is , indeed, a variety of “gold” to be discovered in this state that I have claimed as home for 50 years. Our family’s property contained fruit trees such as lemon, orange, Fuji apple, Asian pear, Bartlett pear, peach and olive.
I can see this as a three-hour epic movie, Margaret. What fun you could have with the husband and wife getting to grips with gold panning, hunting and cooking.
Thanks for a read that takes the reader back to a simpler, more adventurous time and place.
Thank you , Roy. Despite the disturbing state of the world, a person can still find a bit of harmony in simplicity. Simplistic as this ballad is.
Clever and witty little poem. And a lesson on how capitalism works best! Thanks.
Thank you, David. Yes, flexibility and imagination combined has created many people’s success.
I love the cinematic view you have created, reminding me of the lesson in the adage: “When you’ve got lemons, make lemonade.”
Thank you , Paulette. Yes, it is true, especially when combined with fortitude.
So much, Margaret, in this entertaining and inspiring ballad of so few stanzas! You chronicle a narrative against the backdrop of California history, focusing on characters displaying real differences (comfortably typical masculine and feminine), though they are thoroughly united in hope and work. It’s a fine story of American entrepreneurship successful at last in meeting needs by recognizing and using family resources.
Thank you for your kind response to my work. I think that it is okay for a message to not always be subtle which explains why I chose simplicity for this one. Thank you, Ms. Coats for reading and commenting favorably.
You are right, Margaret. Good new poetry carries a message infused with the profound insights and lofty character of the poet. That sentence quotes the About Us page of this website. Whether it’s simple or profound, subtle or forthright, your message deserves to be heard in the way you choose to present it!
You are an incredible mentor, Ms. Coats!
I just love this ballad, Margaret. To me, it sings the song of the optimistic adventurer with the grit, guts, and determination to make the best of a bad situation – an attitude that is an asset in our challenging world. I am reminded of this stanza and the closing couplet from Kipling’s “If”:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools…
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
Margaret, thank you!
Thank you for your approval, Susan, and also for sharing Kipling’s verse !