Go light go light I must walk lightly
as I moved from one life to another
more and more followed me:
gowns books furniture
paints notebooks
now the seven of us - even the little girls -
must have substance
to carry into the new country
we are transporting a houseful:
barrels of flour stuffed with porcelain
pots tin plates silver service quilts
salt meat rice sugar dried fruit
coffee tea
the wagon sags
and the oxen falter
one wagon founders
what shall I let go? books:
the least
needed for survival: in the cold
desert night
George lifts my heavy
crate of Shakespeare, Emerson, Gray's
Botany, spellers and readers for my school
and hides it all in a hill of salt
while the children sleep parched
and the cows and oxen stand mourning:
I put aside my desk with the inlaid pearl
our great fourposter with the pineapple posts
my love my study
what else can I part with?
I will keep one sketchbook one journal
to see me to the end of the journey
go light
go light
I must walk lightly
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