"One Ghost Town, Two Stories" by Lauren McBride, Frequent Contributor

One Ghost Town, Two Stories

Lauren McBride

Texas ghost town

called Sipe Springs

for water seeping

from the ground -

no one could spell

a sad grave

near Sipe Springs:

three year old girl,

her family moving west -

nameless, but not forgotten

Poet's Notes: On family road trips, phone in hand, I like to Google the names of towns we pass, especially Ghost Towns, and read their histories out loud to pass the time. I remember reading about Sipe Springs in West Texas for two reasons: the misspelling of the town name; and a sad grave about a mile-and-a-half east. The marker reads:  "Little girl, age 3 died 1870, moving west." Her name and family remain unknown.