OREGON TRAILBREAKERS
If in my haste I chance to pass
Smug with speed in chrome and steel
I'll mark the place where last you sleep
Tucked -in with flower blankets sweet
Soft touched by breath of early spring
As altar cloth, unfurled in peace
Across the pain of yesteryears
Your debt full paid, your work complete.
This land you loved and held so dear
Now holds you safe, in warm embrace
And in the place He fixed for you
He hung an arch of promise there
And shared His robe of royal blue,
A piece of sky, torn loose and tossed
With loving gentleness, across
Your throne, a Godly gift to you.
O Pioneer, have patience, please
With those of us who in our ease
Forget your fingers brushed the dust
Of unreached stars, then passed to us
A heritage of precious hope
That we might face our tasks today
Because you walked ahead of us
And broke the trail and led the way.
     Percy T. Booth