My Dusty Soul

Their mother dreamed of better things for her little girls in this life She wanted more, than to be poor as an abusers little wife

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

Author's Note

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.

Reviews

[Fabian G. Franklin]

I liked this. We just never know when or where we are going to need a helping hand so it's always good to lend one when we can. These days folks are just as scared someone trying to help might be a mass murdering lunatic. When I was a kid I remember waving at complete strangers driving down the road and they waved back. We left our doors unlocked at night and kids could go out walking alone without fear. The world gets a little crazier every day I think. Great piece here Tate.

[Tate Morgan]

Fabian always a treasure to see you here. You lend a lot of class to this place. I know the world has changed. However I refuse to go through life afraid. thank you

[TL Boehm]

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 - loved this verse especially. I remember as a kid waving at strangers too. Now if you make eye contact its akin to mad dogging....

[Tate Morgan]

All of us at one time or another seem to be in need of help .However who could pass a women and two children in the dessert and leave them to the merciless streets?

[Acucena G.]

I love the poem , nicely written .

[Tate Morgan]

thank you Acucena

[Richard Man]

I loved this poem/blues song. Tate, it is so easy to dominate with goodwill, to make the meek indebted to you. Random acts of kindness with no returns forever are what makes us men not just males.
I used to be, a long time ago, a private detective in South Africa ..... often employed by a rather unpleasant debt collecting agency.... looking for poverty to pay the rich. Once in my relentlessly tenacious desire to search for the truth I ccme across a distraught mother, as in your case, with a brace of toothless nippers in charity shop clothes. Dead of night departure from a desolate home deserted by her children's father, with despair written across her caring but uncared for face, no way could she pay..... I reported to my client that she gone away, last known address in a town, Messina,RSA (a mining town she had never been too), just to give her a break from the tears and shame. On another occasion, knocking on the door, asking by name, out of a letter box a shot gun sliding past my waist and discharging the pellets into the hot middday dust. I passed his brand new Opel, I took the leads and shopped him.

[Tate Morgan]

Hi Richard thank you for reviewing this piece,We akll need a few good marks on the other side of the ledger and So i found did i this day,.

[Richard Man]

Brownie points .... or strokes if you know about transactional analysis (TA).

[Holly Mason]

a nice gesture from a nice man must have made their day
I wonder where they are now...
this is very beautiful from your title to the words that tell a wonderful tale of human compassion that follow
thank you for sharing fine sir

[Tate Morgan]

Holly thank you dear. Always nice to see you. Im so glad you liked it

[Danilo Ašanin / ..]

This is such a great poem. It shows how graceful you are. The flow is also present. You deserve an A+ (100). :)))

[Tate Morgan]

thank you life doesnt need to be all pain

[Mysty Johnson]

You surely did them a great deed that Day Tate and again today by memorializing it in a poem. Too many travel that road of despair and there are too few Angels. Thankfully you are one to them. Beautiful poem memorializing that day.

[Tate Morgan]

mysty I write these down to pass to my son someday and then his children in hopes they will become part of the lexicon of heritage to my family

[Helen Crutchett]

A 'keeper for sure". Beautifully penned and stunning in every respect.

Thank you poet for being you.

Helena

[Tate Morgan]

i hope it made a difference

[Veronica Chandler]

This is an exquisite example of the truly important things in life; those simple gestures of kindness from one human being to another are the most profoundly important things we ever do. The very fabric of the lives of this woman and her children were irrevocably changed that day by your act of kindness. To echo your own sentiment, we ourselves receive far more benefit in the giving than was received by those who your kindness went out to. Your thoughtful consideration lives on and your actions that day and they were like planting seeds which continues to bear fruit to this day in all the lives touched by your actions and now by the retelling in this exquisite piece of poetry to those of us who now read of the sublime born of simple kindness'.

[Tate Morgan]

these three souls are no doubt better off for the meeting, I hope they made it to paradise and have fruit trees in their yard.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

you were a good samaritan...and not wanting credit...i like that.

it is a great story poem...nicely written...

i bet that woman will never forget you for what you did that day...you had an impact.

[Tate Morgan]

I hope she found her hearts desire. thanks jacob