An Abandoned Pioneer Cabin

I felt a great sadness at the sight.

An Abandoned Pioneer Cabin

 

By Elton Camp

 

There it is, way off to the right side.

A home where a family did reside.

I mightn’t have seen as I passed by

Except a chimney still stood high.

 

I wonder who, with labor and care,

Took the time to construct it there.

The best stones were set aside

All found on the mountainside.

 

People could only use what was free.

Chimney from rocks, logs from tree.

Although he was not very skilled,

Each man his own house did build.

 

I could see the dwelling had started small.

E’er the two could walk, they had to crawl.

As the couple’s family grew,

They added rooms, one or two.

 

A mortgage they never owed.

Didn’t have a payment’s goad.

Luxuries they never knew.

Nor any “Joneses” to outdo.

 

It was much the same everywhere.

People lived simply, free from care.

There was not any reason to feel bad.

You don’t miss what you never had.

 

And it was still possible to tell

Where the family had dug a well.

A heap of ruins did betray

Place where the privy lay.

 

The family’s barn had collapsed long ago.

Only rotted logs could its location show.

The cabin had been empty many years.

Never again to see either joy or tears.

 

And when more time has passed,

There will be no trace of it at last.

When the chimney crumbles away,

To eras of time the place falls prey.

 

To me it really seems a shame, though

A family lived there but none will know.

While I live, I will always try

That place to recall with a sigh.