The Country Store

As a child, we would occasionally drive a few hours up to my grandparents home on Grand Lake in northeastern Oklahoma. There were a number of sights along the way. There was a five story red brick hotel from the 1920s in Claremore. There was some long abandoned them park along Route 66 with a huge plaster whale and other exotics unexpected in the remote corners of Oklahoma. There was the Indian Trading Post where we always stopped. Then the drive across the top of one of the 1930s dams. The longer you drove, the emptier became the countryside. Eventually you came to the penultimate landmark.

I don't even recall what the town might have been named. It was just an intersection of a couple of county roads, populated with half a dozen scattered homes and the Country Store. All this came to mind last night as I was reading a collection of poetry and came across the poem below. The description is a close fit to the that long ago country store of my childhood memories. The only additional thing was that the country store had a couple of gas pumps in front and a large metal shed attached which functioned as triage station for vehicles.

The final landmark was the row of mailboxes arrayed together at the intersection of the county road and a gravel road. Turn right there and another few miles of bumpy, dusty driving got you to the cabin where my grandparents waited by the cold inviting lake, my grandfather, like as not, having grilled up some hamburgers, the smell of charcoal and meat wafting up to greet you.

The Country Store
by Anonymous

Far out beyond the city's lights, away from din and roar,
The cricket chirps of summer nights beneath the country store;
The drygoods boxes ricked about afford a welcome seat
For weary tillers of the ground, who here on evenings meet.

A swinging sign of ancient make, and one above the door,
Proclaim that William Henry Blake is owner of the store;
Here everything from jam to tweed, from silks to ginghams bright,
Is spread before the folk who need from early morn till night.

Tea, sugar, coffee (browned or green), molasses, grindstones, tar,
Suspenders, peanuts, navy beans, and homemade vinegar,
Fine combs, wash ringers, rakes, false hair, paints, rice, and looking glasses,
Side saddles, hominy, crockery ware, and seeds for garden grasses.

Lawn mowers, candies, books to read, corn planter, household goods,
Tobacco, salt, and clover seed, horsewhips and knitted hoods,
Canned goods, shoe blacking, lime and nails, straw hats and carpet slippers,
Prunes, buttons, codfish, bridal veils, cranberries, clocks, and clippers.

Umbrellas, candles, scythes and hats, caps, boots and shoes and bacon,
Thread, nutmegs, pins and Rough on Rats, for cash or produce taken;
Birdseed, face powder, matches, files, ink, onions and many more,
Are found in heaps and stacks and piles within the country store.