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Cowboy Logic
by Erik JensenI.
Fancy words are just that -
A and B are just letters.
It either is or it ain't, and
you, son?
Right now, you ain't.
II.
Friends are your friends until
they don't got your back.
Then, they ain't.
Then you make sure that
they ain't no more.
III.
Not many folks got the good sense
to know they can't hold their liquor.
Drink, drink a storm.
Hell, challenge the town drunk to a moonshine swim.
But – remember -
the living are always one round
behind the dead.
IV.
Shoot or don't. Decide.
V.
Fish tales are a lot like women back home -
everybody's got one and remembers her vaguely, a little prettier
every time she comes up.
Your fish/woman is always a little smaller/less pretty than
anybody else's – or you might have to shoot your way out.
VI.
Sometimes, you're all cattle and no hat.
Sometimes, you ain't.
Make sure everybody knows when you are
and
Make sure ain't nobody can see your hand when you ain't.
VII.
If all else fails, there's always a lawyer like
there's always a Devil.
VIII.
They say dead men tell no tales – that's true.
They can't get a word in edgewise with the livin'.
IX.
Partin' ain't no sorrow when you're a cowboy, and
son, you're ready. So we say goodbye like men, and men
don't say goodbye. We just fade away into the land. 09/17/2009 Author's Note: This is a new kind of style for me - figured I'd give it a shot.
Posted on 09/17/2009
Copyright © 2024 Erik Jensen
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Charlie Morgan on 09/17/09 at 07:19 PM ...i like this; seques between the "aint'" and "isn't of the world and allllll inbetween, well written, this new style of yours. |
| Posted by Joe David on 09/17/09 at 09:52 PM glad you did give it a shot. i love it. nostalgic memory, vague and changing with time. i know it well. makes me think of "you got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run" by Don Schlitz. this is a right on piece of writing, gets right at the cowboy ethos. |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 09/18/09 at 02:22 AM "the living are always one round
behind the dead." Indeed... thank you.
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| Posted by Meghan Helmich on 01/03/12 at 03:41 PM Stanza V. is lovely. I really like your style, Erik. |
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