A Cowboys Lament
By
Will Thorpe
Great ball of fire slipped from sight,
Heat of day turns to cool of night.
Light the fire among rocks stacked high,
See first star in the chalk blue sky.
Shadows growing jagged claw across the sand,
Night birds sing like some symphonic band.
Shadows turn purple among cactus so tall.
An evil silence bounces off Blue Mesa walls.
Fire burned low now just embers so red,
Horses staked out watered and fed.
On an old saddle I lay my weary head,
Watch the full stars dance over my bed.
I think of Nell shall ask for her hand,
Hope she will wear my golden band.
Somewhere back east she sleeps so sound,
Under moon now high and fully round.
Among the shadows I hear the beast howl,
The breeze brings a smell so very foul.
I’m on my feet in a dead run,
My Winchester with me my only gun.
I stare into the shadows with a squint,
From the moonlight I catch a glint.
Slowly moving as if to give no hint,
I see the dark form all hunched and bent.
I circle to my left into the wind,
The horses I leave to my next of kin.
I feel I’m about to be gored,
Up my Winchester boom it roared.
We stare down all through the night,
The attack will surely come at first light.
The dawn creeps in and I can see,
The old Mesquite tree that was after me!
Copyright 2007
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