For the M.E.C.C., may it rest in peace.
Dramatis Personæ
In order of appearance:
Audrey the wagon leader, our narrator
Louie the first to die
TJ the last to get vaccinated for measles
Erin the first to get typhoid
Travel the trail
old-timey America
amidst middling rations
and questions:
are we there yet?
Watch it, all of you guys.
So, basically, you are going to pace
though here I am drowning
and Louie is dead.
Alright.
Along with most of my oxen
TJ is lost
Ian has a fever
TJ has a fever –
which is surprising because he is lost –
Erin has a fever.
Apparently something is going around
and help is either brief
or a problem.
An oxen is injured
the world is orange and purple at evening –
never a good sign –
and I have to craft a ram with little barter,
bad water
little water
Erin has exhaustion
and typhoid.
Bye, Erin!
Alright.
Rough trail
little water
TJ has measles
and, TJ dies.
Ian has a fever:
here Ian lies.
Chimney Rock is the last point where I died.
We are spreading death
seeking gold in the west; now, I get measles
(you know, they do
have a lot of that
in Colorado).
This ladder to heaven is lagging –
I expect my exit shortly
but come to a river we must cross again
TJ
Louie
and Erin
going through Hell in a Conestoga Wagon.
If a steamboat were at hand
we'd hire a lady of the evening as our guide
optioning an arm or a leg to pay her price
maybe we'd die from dysentery –
at least it wouldn't be drowning, it would be
alright.
We should probably rest, were we sane
but we are driven by dreams
effervescent as gold dust
when Erin dies again,
TJ has cholera,
Ian found the dysentery after all
TJ is dead.
Louie has typhoid,
and he's dead,
Ian has typhoid,
useless after he breaks his leg.
Given typhoid, a broken femur, a case of buckshot –
tell everyone
he fell out of the wagon
or something.
Douglas Luman is a poet and nonfiction author whose work has appeared in Burningword, Epigraph Magazine and (forthcoming) Toad Suck Review, among other publications and journals. He is currently pursuing his MFA at the University of Central Arkansas.
