An Old Wagon Wheel.

An Old Wagon Wheel
~E.D. Wilbur

Upon a fence, in a new coat of red,
Brought to use, no longer dead,
For many years it hung in a shed,
One of four, the year Gramp was wed.

It first was used, for a long, long drive,
For the honeymoon, in the year o’ five.
It took two days for them to arrive,
To that old hotel, so young and alive.

On a buggy it was, with a covered top,
Gram washed it out, with an old string mop.
It went for years, and it didn’t stop,
With an old grey mare, and a clippity clop.

The buggy was black, with wheels of white,
Dashboard of leather, and it carried a light,
After Sarah’s wedding, which lasted into the night,
The mare got them home, it must have been quite a sight.

It went for the doctor, when the kids were born ,
Covered with flags, a parade to adorn,
To fatten a goose, it went for the corn,
After all this, it was looking quite worn.

It sat so dejected, in the old churchyard,
Dear Gramp was gone, we all took it hard,
The family kept to themselves, the horse stood guard,
Tho Gram smiled through her tears, she appeared very tired.

The old grey horse, to a pasture green,
The shed for the buggy, a sad, sad scene,
In days gone by, it was sharp and clean,
But it rotted away, the wheels high on a beam.

Three wheels were broken, when the hurricane hit
That old wagon shed, and when it had quit
We put the last in the porch, where Gramp used to sit,
To remind us of him, and his rare dry wit.

Upon a fence, in a new coat of red,
Brought to use, no longer dead,
For those many years it hung in a shed,
Now the wheel is on show, on a fence, instead.