Maggie's Lament

a poem for Maggie from "Lonesome Dove"

Hello, Poetry Friend

Last week I mentioned that Lonesome Dove is the first book I was compelled to write and write and write about. I wish I’d started with poetry instead of prose when it came to that book, but I was less comfortable sharing my poetry back then. Now, well, I have this here Substack for that express purpose.

Today: a poem for Maggie.

We never get to meet Maggie — the only woman Call ever loved and Newt’s mother. But her presence is everywhere, even in Call’s mare, the Hell Bitch.

My dad’s whole side of the family is from west Texas, which is a different accent than south Texas, where my mom’s side of the family hails from. I can’t write Rio Grande Valley, but I can write Panhandle all the dern day.

Maggie’s Lament
   from Lonesome Dove

Go on, go, Woodrow. I’ll keep just fine, Call,
for a good long while.
I ain’t much of a girl, only a whore,
but you, Captain, sir,
you’re the only one liked to hear me talk,
like you was my dog.
I’m not no Hell Bitch, but dern, I throwed you.
Only Gus knows you
carry that scar. Like as not, it won’t heal.
I’ve seen our boy heel
you close across that lonesome wilderness. 
Our inheritance.
I aim to haunt you good – sittin pretty –
don’t need your pity.

P.S. Many thanks to Dave Malone, who read an early version of this poem and saw the slant rhymes and the potential for more of them. His new collection, When A Man Loves a Woman, comes out soon, and yes, I will be writing about it.

Happy poeming!

Megan