New poem

  Family Circle

At a rest area table

(Like a deserted mission.)

The usual can of pork

And beans, with nothing added

(Like pemmican.)

To make them seem more than

(Like pemmican with dried berries.)

They were, was the only side.

(No fire, nothing cooked.)

The mother prepared simple

(Using grandma’s bread knife.)

Bologna sandwiches, neat,

(Maybe dried beef or buffalo.)

With no mayo or lettuce,

And the common meal

(Nothing fancy but it's hearty.)

Became a summer picnic.

(Food is fuel for the body.)

It evolved into a meal of love

(All for one and one for all.)

And they were like some

Westward pioneers who stopped

(Sitting in the prairie schooner's shade.)

Someplace near here to be

(The ox team needs a rest, too.)

A household for a few minutes.

(Oregon or bust)