Grimes County Beauty

Just a couple of hundred fence posts

Separated Henry from Emma growing up

In Grimes County, Texas in 1915.

Coming from good old first generation German stock

Staunch Lutherans and followers of The Truth.

Ten months older and a hundred twenty pounds heavier than her,

Emma never ever stood a chance with Henry.

With flaming, red curly hair and bright blue eyes

And a singing voice like a flock of golden cheeked warblers,

Emma was the local beauty and dream of many.

But they said it was God’s will

She got what she deserved

God’s will for being so damn beautiful.

God’s will for being young and naïve.

It didn’t matter that it was against her will,

It was God’s will, they said.

And against her will, her fate was sealed.

Seventeen-year old girls can be so foolish.

And Emma was no different in this way.

And Henry was raised to think “like a man”,

Womenfolk were God’s gift to Men

For pleasure and homemaking and sometimes degradation.

Emma flirted with and unleased a demon.

And when Henry decided the time was right,

He raped her into motherhood, marriage

And the never-ending contempt of the good people

Of small-town, Navasota, Texas in 1915.

But they said it was God’s will

She got what she deserved

God’s will for being so damn beautiful.

God’s will for being young and naïve.

It didn’t matter that it was against her will,

It was God’s will, they said.

And against her will, her fate was sealed.

They said it was God’s will.

When her belly started to grow,

A shotgun wedding was quickly planned

Not a white dress wedding filled with joy for Emma,

The good people forced her to her knees, and through tears

Made her confess her wanton, lustful sins to them.

After begging forgiveness from the pious Lutheran folk,

These stalwarts of decency finally let Emma take her vows

While they slapped smug-faced Henry on the back

Praising him for being such a man

For winning the Grimes County beauty of 1915.

But they said it was God’s will

She got what she deserved

God’s will for being so damn beautiful.

God’s will for being young and naïve.

It didn’t matter that it was against her will,

It was God’s will, they said.

And against her will, her fate was sealed.

- Julie O'Hara 2023

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