Cowboy Poems
That Go Hard

To wander without knowing
A path still dense with fog
And breath without showing
The path you're put upon

Deserves your sacred steps
In turn you pay respect
To each moment...
Unfolding...
Just for you…

Preparing for the storm
Like it's happened before
Will happen again
More rain and more wind

The calm air buzzes
Frozen faces are silent
Preparing our souls
For the air to get violent

I've requested a parley
With a fresh new enemy
Who's mouth runneth on over

For he called me a coward
Criminal horse thief gone sour
Other names that threaten to lower

My status as cowboy
So with a fresh mix of alloy
I've called to account this poor gopher

That threatens my name
Hasn't heard the shame game
That I play in these streets each night over

The world has changed
Since we last spoke my friend
And I thought we'd be cleansed
Of this filth once again

But all time has done
Is sped up the sun
To distract us from truths
We rushed to cut loose

I've been out there ya' know
Melting my bones
Spending dear time
In the heat, in the grime

Only now to return
Full circle to live and learn
That my ember
Can still spark a brand new fire

Another blue Monday
Just like any other
Pistol at the ready
My heart filled with thunder

Til the hand fully heals
To past quick draw feels
I'll simply turn right hand to left
Charm, distract and deflect

Spurs and four knives
Make up the Sheriff's kit
He's a fancy stick picker
Of limb, tree, or man's regret

I find myself detached from home
That small backyard I cowboy roam
Seems far away from me today
For in this field my fate does lay

I traveled far to test my grit
Had no idea the scope of it
Told my family I'd sure return
But oh the tides have seemed to turned

No time to think or reminisce
Upon the homestead I do miss
Focus sharp and pistol ready
I move with purpose... slow and steady

For just upon the ridge I see
The gang of three been chasin' me
To steal my wares or strike me dead
No idea what's in their heads

So this last stretch I circle back
To cut them with surprise attack
From this here field I'll make my stand
And pray my wife does understand

Finally caught up to my bounty Fred the Flower
Only to find him dead as nails upon arrival

He'd eaten his crew, used their parts for brewed stew
And even chewed his own knees for a while

I'd been hot on their damned trail since Kentucky
Where they laid waste to poor folk deemed unlucky

So they hired my ass to chase them full blast
Claimed they would pay me a big old ripe bounty

A whole lot alive and half as much dead
Fifty more for each one of his companions

But now they're all dead, rotten bones some just heads
So how do I prove it's Fred and his Flowers?

Workin' up the liquid courage
To meet him in the street
That same cruel place he called me out
When things went south last week

For in the thoroughfare we bumped
Our wagons in the mud
Got so enraged with me he did
He screamed and pulled his gun

"Meet me here tonight" he said
"Go home and grab yer piece"
"Cause I'll blow you fuckin' head clean off"
"For what you've done to me"

So now I'm drinking in this bar
Two blocks from where it happened
Been eight full nights I've dodged and weaved
That killer in his wagon

I remember that snake
Headed toward Jake
Our precious baby boy

Grabbed my pistol real quick
Ready to deal with it
Defend our pride and joy

Not a second to spare
Cocked my gun and prepared
To blow its' scales open to bits

When Jake turned and stabbed
That slithering scab
With a toy pistol I carved out for him

Six months of riding with a crew
No better, no worse
Than me or you
Just has a cowboy job to do

Put me on the outskirts
I'm a damn straight good shot
The bandit look out runt
With better than average luck

As a kid I shot those possums
Way Daddy taught me to
Now I aim a tad bit higher
Hearts of men on other crews

Who threaten this here project
Of ropin' and movin' the herd
Our clients pays us to steer
And defend with great concern

Just a lone cowboy for hire
I hop from crew to crew
Til my contract fully expires
Or bullets kiss me on the move

An extension of me
My smoke wagon be
Silver or black
My hands turn like that

The blink of your eye
Unlucky with time
Will miss this sweet kiss
Of hot metal bliss

Projected from me
Your new enemy
Born of a glance
That thought this yer chance

To strike me down dead
But you're outta yer head
And couldn't be sicker
Thinkin' you could be quicker

The dust it strains my eyes tonight
In this worn down desert town
And my foot, it ache's real badly
As I walk the turn around

For the rebels and the rousers
They are a ripe with energy
My patrol for nasty derelicts
Exposed in front of me

The square breaks loose with gunfire
As town folk flee and stumble
I orient toward bursts of fire
To form my play to rumble

For just last week, my luck ran short
They killed my Deputy
Young man from Kansas, tall and slim
But now he's six feet deep

So my plan ad hoc in front of me
Seems clear and plain to see
Just pull real steady, breathe real slow
And I'll take some down with me

When I was young, invincible
A cowboy on the range
Filled with guts and vitriol
Riding through the strange

Unseemly thoughts and fits of rage
Filling every stride
Each step I took a mystery
Will I live or die

This old town dust
My lungs did work
Each breath
A gift from god

So stand aside
My time be short
The devil's due
His lot

I ride still now
With stones for bones
My friends
All dead and gone

Regret beget
My every thought
Know not
I'd live this long

The night draws near
And mystery surrounds
But I draw too
So mystery watch out!

Friday came as fast as my bullets
Drinkin' heavy and too many shootouts
With my aim toward the weekend steady and true
I shall ride two more days before starting anew

Big Schofield, little Schofield
Which one will I shoot?
Matte black or nickel plated
Both packed with CO2

It's not the size that makes the mark
But hands that aim them true
So guess I'll wield them both today
The perfect cowboy shoot