Pioneer Women

By Gertrude Ryder Bennett

I always thought they left their homes and went
Into the wilderness, their hearts afire,
Loving adventure, loath to be content
With peaceful hearths, and stirred by strange desire.
But now I know that there were those who cast
Long, hungry looks behind, who saw the trail
Ahead of them, were haunted by the past.
These women were the leaves caught in a gale.
Love came to them with devastating power.
Their men were theirs, and they would follow them –
Not love that blossoms lightly for an hour
But love that to the plant is root and stem.
The way these women went, I go today,
Heart-torn and helplessly. Love leads the way.

(1949)