The Dust Bowl occured during the Great Depression. My father jumped a freight when he was 18 and came out west from Kansas after the family farm was sold...

Thinking about draught
the way it sucks moisture
out of every living thing
Soil cracks then drys
stirred up by the winds
No trees break clouds of grit
that sting your eyes
and black out the sun

The topsoil's blown away
and nothing will grow
The potatoes are grey chaulk
in paper skins
You eat your stores
of canned goods
and smoked meat
Sugar's a sweet dream
to children who are hungry

You sell your stock
what hasn't been eaten
and admitting defeat
sell the farm
for pennies on the dollar
Generations of pride
half-buried in dust
gone with the gavel

Some 200,000 souls
took what fit in a truck
or jumped the nearest freight
and headed west for green
Restless hobos
in search of work
in the forests, fields and canneries

The ethic did 'em proud
No strangers to sweat
and heartache
they worked hard
and built new American dreams

(c) Linda Gayton 2006