Beethoven Rides into Mustang Ridge

Mary Fogel

May 3, 2026

Driving down highway 21

In the fury of a Texas storm

Wind slamming the side 

Of the car

Sending us skittering

Across pools of water

Rain slamming down like 

Plates of silver

Wrapped around my eyes

It’s what happens 

When you drive 

Along with the storm

Not through it

Jaw tightening moments

Spent this Maundy Thursday

Our last supper could have been

At the Dairy Queen

In Bryan

But we couldn’t stop

My sweetheart carefully coaches

You’re doing great

Eyes on the white line

You’ve got this

It’s that kind of trip when you can’t

Listen to music

Or talk about topics

Other than survival related

Chucks 

Under

The chin

The ferocity of the moments take hold

And you hunker down to greet them

Just outside of Bastrop

It lifted

We dared to play the music

Of Beethoven’s 9th

There on highway 21

Now visible countryside

A reprieve

From blinding rain

“Ode to Joy” rising up

In Mustang Ridge

Broken down trucks and goat pens

Scattered beside  

The local Poco Loco Super Mercados 

Filled with German voices 

Bringing the promise of life

Bringing the promise of rain

To the dry and brittle fields

Mary Fogel is a poet and late-blooming adventurer.  She retired from the counseling field and child advocacy in 2018.  In 2023, she faced the loss of her husband of 18 years and of her best friend.  Although she had been writing poetry for 20 years, her focus on writing became central to her recovery.  Mary has been fortunate to fall in love again, find a writing group,  and begin a new life in 2025 that involves a great deal of joy and gratitude.