What we know
1881-1897
Middle daughter of Matthew and Rachel Cole. Was struck by Pastor Horner’s wagon1 as she was walking home from Jenson’s barn May 18, 1897. Her legs were severed, and she died a few weeks later.
Marriage
by Sarah Smith
Father who visits the White Owl
Mother who leads the choir
When they are dead
I will leave them both:
Mother who leads the Temperance Society
Father who visits the ladies
Mother who leads the Ladies Aid
Father who visits the White Owl in the dark
then they come home
and sleep together in the dark
when they are dead I will leave them
I mind the store
I hate the store
when they are dead I will leave them
I go to the Ladies Aid
with Mother in the dark
I have been long enough
in the dark
I have been too long
when Father visits the White Owl
and we stay in the dark
Mother speaks alone
to people in the dark
that only she can see
she tells me what they say
and then she sings alone
as if she were in choir
and she tells me what they do in the dark
Father and Cleo
Mother and Father
I have been long enough
in the home
in the dark
when they are dead I will leave them
and Father is home from the White Owl
and Mother and Father are asleep together
and
why am I still here
under the grass
in the dark
with them?
Connections

Portal
Sources
A drawing of a snake.
Lottie Horner