While riding in the Carrizo Plain National Monument, I happened upon the lonely grave of Mary Morris. Researching the history of Mary, I was moved and inspired to try my hand at a poem in her honor.
The Grave of Mary Morris
The grave of Mary Morris looks down the Carrizo Plain
It is only here, the mother dear, felt unburdened of her pain.
Ten children put to rest before the family headed West,
Three left behind, four worked beside, a dad who lost a bet.
A life so hard without reward, would drive anyone insane,
The grave of Mary Morris looks down the Carrizo Plain
The dirt-floor cabin, today abandoned, was home to the Morris clan
A new life start, with prosperous crop, was the family’s fatal plan.
On hills of gold and mornings cold, the family staked their claim
The grave of Mary Morris looks down the Carrizo Plain.
She still stands guard against a life so hard from behind her rusty fence
Many have followed but few have bothered to have this story make sense,
For this land on the fault, and covered in salt hides what her family became,
The grave of Mary Morris looks down the Carrizo Plain.
