Great Uncle Fred & Great Aunt Lee in front of their dugout house, Oklahoma Territory, 1903
They look so young and mild.
Fred wears clean overalls,
Lee soft gingham.
Each shows a sober face.
All their wealth
Is mustered at their back . . .
Two horses, four cows, a pony,
Buggy, wagon, and dugout shack
With an arbor frame
And blank board walls.
Beyond, the unplowed prairie swells
As if this place could engulf them yet
Or any day a wild Comanche band
Might ride across the ridge.
But no; the land is not the same.
Soon the plow will come.
Only tame Comanches wait.
There in front
Stand a tight new fence
And a new gate.
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