If Only

Had I a two-horse wagon, I would head

West and rediscover California again.

Things may have turned out differently

then. Never being quite satisfied, I may

have traveled back East and given Erie,

Baltimore and Cleveland different names.

I certainly would have planned much

more thoughtfully things which seemingly

happened so randomly. I would have

peppered the map with names such as

Butternut Falls, Indiana, Sweet Spot,

Virginia, Corn Cob, Missouri, Lazy Day,

New Jersey and so on. Had I a two-horse

wagon, things would have certainly

turned out differently. Native Americans

could have reclaimed their lands and

charged rent to the occupying pioneers and

colonists. But alas, it’s all my pie-in-the-sky

imagining, you see. Instead, I sit here in

my seventieth year trying to figure out this

text-messaging thing, in an attempt to best

explain how things may have turned out

differently for you and me if only I had a

two-horse wagon way back when. And had

I a four-horse hitch, mind you, why most

certainly I could have done a hell of a lot more.

Chris Hanch 1-14-18