Poineers' Dreams

It is good to see the old folks hand in hand
walking side by side across the land
The homestead where they settled long ago
when health and strength they used to know
They think about the pioneer trail they blazed
and the shack where all their children had been raised
They can't believe how much the farm has changed its looks
They miss the fields with rows of golden stooks
And long to see things that once had been
the binder and big steam threshing machine
The straw stacks that the blower piled up high
and nights when burning straw stacks lit the sky
They miss the jolly men that formed the crew
and the hustle when the old steam whistle blew
The books who piled the harvest tables high
with everything from prime roast beef to pie
In their minds the farm is not the same
they remember the route that change had came
They never thought they would see the day
when all the former things had passed away
The country school where children used to play
now is gone forever ever so they say
Close friends and neighbours they held dear
they never though they all would disappear
The small town where they dealt close by
it is sad to have to watch i slowly die
It is strange to see what time can do
everything has changed that they once knew
The railway station where they caught the train
was a pleasure they will never have again
Then world is quickly changing so it seems
things the old folks knew seem just like dreams
In their dreams the pioneers still look back
to the homestead where they started with a shack.

Tom Hoy

Lethbridge

P.S. I composed this poem from my own memories. I am a retired farmer. I hauled straw to fire the old steam engine in 1918 when I was 10 years old. Men were scarce then due to World War I. I have seen all the changes on the farm..... Tom Hoy.


More Later....
G