The Brothers Culver, Part Ii
Later Ethan roasted a great haunch,
enough for their breakfast, dinner, and lunch.
They sat outside by the great fire’s glow,
while a red sunset over sharp peaks roamed.
Ethan watched his brother gaze to the ridge,
said,”You know, there’s nothing wrong with it.”
Fielding turned, said,”Whatever do you mean?
Said Ethan,”Wanting to live where you can breathe.
“I knew way back when I was just thirteen,
that father’s world would never be my scene.
I’ve seen many men gaze like you are now,
but few ever dare to let themselves set out
“to follow their gut wherever it may go,
to live out a life they so wish to know.
They gaze, and dream, then head back for the east,
to lives they’re given, not lives that are free.”
Fielding frowned at his brothers explanation.
“We all must bear out some expectations.”
Ethan said,”Yes, but if you go back home,
will they be father’s, or will they we your own?”
Said Fielding,”It is not as simple as that.
Besides, banking is all I’m really good at.”
Ethan just smiled, said,”Here is the thing.
No one has opened a bank down in Green Springs.”
Fielding said,”There is more, things have been planned.
What would they all say about me as a man
if I ran out on mother, her hair gray,
if I just stopped courting Ada Tremaine?”
Said Ethan“Ada, daughter of dad’s partner?
So they’ve decided that you are to may her?
And as for mother, I write her every week.
A dozen times I’ve asked her to visit me
“to see the wilds, the peaks from this cabin,
making a move doesn’t mean shedding of kin.
She’d come to visit, if not for father’s views,
Is that fear also gonna’ be your excuse?”
Fielding just sighed,”I cannot have your life.”
Ethan replied,”I just offer the knife
by which you can cut all those self-made bonds
you’ve worn so long, you forget that they’re on.”
They said nothing more, and the very next day
Fielding went to the station to get a stage,
But as the horses pulled up he looked around.
It was true, their was not a bank in town…
Several weeks later, when he didn’t return,
His dad got a letter, which he then burned.
But in Colorado, Fielding gave thanks
to the opening of the new Green Springs branch.
To the influx of ranchers he gave loans,
soon his own house on a spread he owned,
married a bar maid he could barley handle,
back home the news was quite the scandal.
Fielding did well and finally understood
his brother better than father ever could,
and despite his success, for two days each week,
he and Ethan hunted elk high in the peaks.
Copyright © David Welch | Year Posted 2018
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