Victoria

Victoria could see her dreams
      From the streets of Butte
They appeared somewhere beyond the mountains
      Every day after her shift
At the Queen of Hearts Restaurant & Casino

She'd look up at the very same mountains
      That attracted wanderers to visit Butte
And pray to the statue, Our Lady of the Rockies
      Her deliverance soon would come

There might come a day years from now she'd dream
      When she could afford to wax poetic
About these 20 odd years
      And when she might return to visit
These mountains, this precious statue, her patron

For years she remained in conflict
      Torn between wanting to leave and wanting to stay
It had become her home, after all, her companion
      Where she had settled, when, lost
She had had to find a new life two decades ago
Wher her failed marriage to that no-account bum
Almost landed her in jail back in Syracuse

It was only through a sympathtic district attorney
      And turning state's evidence that she was spared
And managed to leave all that behind her
      And drift in search of a place, an escape from the world

All over the Northwest and the Upper Plains she sought
      A place to hide, a place to rest
Finally living the forgotten life
      In Butte

Everything became thankfully routine
      Until four years ago
When from out of nowhere
      The sprout of a yearning
Germinated in her heart, in her soul

It wasn't too late, she would reason
      If she left now, she could still live another 20 years
Somewhere more cosmopolitan, more sheik
      Brighter, limitless, dripping with more hope
A move could lift this veil of sadness
      That threatened her dreams
            Darkened her schemes,
                  Deadened her streams

Ever since, she started to save her pennies
      Investigated from afar
Went to the library, subscribed to magazines
      Searched the internet
Asked customers who would come through
      On the buses from Seattle to Billings and Bismark
Who took half-hour layovers in the restaurant

Oh, she'd imagine, one day soon
      Although lately, not soon enough
No, she must show restraint, she said
      That one day soon, she'd get on that bus
Return to the world of the living

Most folks would tell her to go west
      Head over to Seattle or Portland
But her instinct told her
      That back east was where her deliverance would be found

She'd head back
      But to Chicago, New York, Washiungton, or Boston, not Syracuse
Places with upscale thinking where she could lose herself
      Be swept up in the crowd, play with new trends
Challenge herself with new ideas
      Allow herself to become involved in a local project
Give back in thanks for the blessings granted her
      By her patron, Our Lady of the Rockies

Victoria could see her dreams
      From the streets of Butte
They appeared somewhere beyond the mountains
      Every day after her shift
At the Queen of Hearts Restaurant & Casino


For Sketches
Denis J. Kelly
Jan. 24, 2012