What did you expect to see?

What did you expect to see?

What did you expect to see 

when you crossed that ridge? 

Did you expect to see 

the sea glistening in the distance? 

Did your heart sink to see

the dusty prairie flowing out in front of you? 

Another bone wrenching days ride

What did you expect to see 

when you crossed that ridge? 

The mountains stretching to the sky 

forming an impenetrable barrier for those wagons of yours 

hemming in your dreams 

or did you see the cottonwood trees 

and the promise of water and shade from that relentless sun?

What did you expect to see 

when you crossed that ridge? 

Were your hopes dashed and crushed 

beneath the wheels of your wagon?

Or did they soar like the ospreys 

at the promise of the water and unclaimed land?

Pioneering along the Overland Trail, Colorado