Stagecoach Mary

They called her Stagecoach Mary, a whirlwind,  

wrinkled hands gripping reins like iron roots,  

no storm could keep her from the trail,  

no road too rough for her steady stride.  

Sixty years carved in her bones,  

but her spirit pulled faster than six horses,  

muscles taut as bowstrings, life crackling  

beneath her hat like a song unsung.  

In a world that told her no,  

she laughed, and the dust obeyed.  

A rebel was born every time she  

hitched her dreams to the open horizon.  

Later, she'd fold into the rhythm of laundry,  

hands diving into suds like an artist’s canvas,  

the scent of fresh cotton lifting her afternoons,  

a town full of children calling her name.  

There were baseball games where she cheered loudest,  

friends gathered around her like orbiting stars,  

and the legend grew with every sunrise—  

Mary Fields, the one who never stopped.