The Sundance Wives: The Grifters, the Damned and the Ugly

The Sundance Wives
take their name from vindication,
from the grifters, from the damned
and the ugly, talk about your Dog Canyon,
when the first preacher nosed his way into
their territory, The Sundance Wives were not
about to lose any of their hard-earned wealth
from properties that bore their particular brand,

the archer Wives
from The Sundance
Four went to send a telegram,
this ill-tempered preacher wants
something of ours badly enough to
kill for, we are relying on the Winchester
rifle to defend ourselves from him. We give
notice to the marshal should our corrals be
stained with blood. You can find the preacher
over at the saloon going through the till of the
faro bank and holding pipe fire at the opium house.
signed, The Sundance Wives,

within the
hour, fifteen
miles from Leadville,
the marshal of Summit
County was found dead
with a bible lying across
his chest and the telegram
stuffed in his mouth dripping
blood from the corners,

the preacher
hiding behind
a big boulder upon
the cliff, not knowing
god had just released
a boulder twice the size
above him to set off a rock
slide moving the preacher to
a place called hell, the bottles
of patent medicine containing
opium and alcohol untouched
in the preacher's wagon, the idea
appealed to The Sundance Wives
to set up their printing press and give
a name to Jett Durango and the Powder
River Hymnals. Blessed Be and Amen.

Copyright Ms. Sage Sweetwater, firebrand lesbian novelist