Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Cowboy poetry (at last)

OK, folks. I know y'all been waitin' forever fer me to post up some cowboy poetry that I done wrote myself, so I set myself down and finished up one of the things I been workin' on. Here it is. Tell me what you think.

 

There's some as says that purple
Is the colour of a King
They give it a fancy name and all (porphyry)
But it's the same old thing

Now I don't know 'bout kings and queens
And other powerful folk
Or colours 'n things they used to use
To keep people under yoke

But there's a time of day
After all the herd's been seen to
And I'm settin' on this ridge
'Tween the fire and my lean-to

When the heavens that seemed endless
'Neath the scorchin' sun of noon
Are drawin' down around me
And the night is comin' soon

When the prairies stretch before me
And as far as eye can see
Not another human bein'
Is sharin' the world with me

As the sun gets sinkin' lower
To'ard the straight line of the ground
When the skies have gone from blue to red
And there's silence all around

And there's a single moment
'Fore it all drops off to night
When everything seems to stop a spell
When everything is right

I can hear the cattle lowin'
As the cold is gettin' higher
I can hear the beans a bubblin'
O'er the kindlin' of the fire

And the sky at just that moment
In between deep red and coal
Is a certain shade of purple
That reaches into a man's soul

Now I ain't got no religion
But when I look around I see
That someone's tryin' to tell me
That there ain't no king but me

Image courtesy of Dornbrau. (Also, I'm rippin' off her freakin' bandwidth linkin' to it here)

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well worth the wait.  Congratulations on your first Cowboy poem.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow!  I know that cowboy!  Too cool Paul, I'm honored.

Anonymous said...

yee haw !! (or insert some other more appropriate cowboy exclamation !!)
i never thought i'd be saying this about "cowboy" poetry, but i like it ! i really do :)
job well done Mr P !!
pamela

Anonymous said...

Slappin knee!! Well done there partner. You sure do write purty for a city boy. ::burp::scratch::fart::spit::

Anonymous said...

My fiance is from Baytown, TX and before moving there he worked on his Grand-daddy's farm.  Your poem definitely makes me picture him and his Grand-Dad working the land all day.  I see them, after all is done, standing there, taking off their cowboy hats and wiping the sweat from their brow, saying"My what a beautiful world we live in!"  Nice entry and LOL on the bandwidth issue,  fixed all mine!

http://journals.aol.com/rwsgirl2029/ItsMyLilWorld

Anonymous said...

A cowboy poet AND a thief....How wonderful!

Anonymous said...

Very nice First Cowboy Poem!!! Worth the wait... and... there will be more?? Right?? <g>
http://journals.aol.com/astaryth/AdventuresofanEclecticMind

Anonymous said...

Not bad...now write one about tumblin tumble weed and the wind on the prarie...Sandi

Anonymous said...

i loved it! i live in the country...way out!! lol and i work with horses so i really enjoyed this poem...i do hope to see more!

Anonymous said...

I liked the poem.  Have you ever watched "Monty Walsh" ?  

Anonymous said...

I wish I could name the voice that took over my mind as I read that, some far off cowboy with a deep draw in tone. Well done Paul, I loved the meaning, flow and tone.
Rebecca

Anonymous said...

Like your poem. Paula

Anonymous said...

Although I don't understand how to distinguish who from who on the blogs and the comments yet - let me say good job on your cowboy poetry! Really good imagery. I don;t know if I'll be able to find this page again. I followed one or two links from the editors pick -  two faced baseball to get here. How do you get to cowboy poetry from a baseball? The world may never know.

Anonymous said...

I was hoping you had a new poem, but thats okay because I really love this one.  I just realized... your poem hasn't got a title.

Anonymous said...

Well done Paul! I liked that. I didn't know that you did poetry!
Kate.
http://journals.aol.co.uk/bobandkate/AnAnalysisofLife/

Anonymous said...

Nice poem...

Nive picture...

be well,
Dawn

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful poem, such masterful use of rhyme, alliteration and imagery.  This is really very well done and I enjoyed reading it.  It has a wonderful rhythm.  I read it aloud to my god daughter (age 10) and she loved it.--Sheria
http://journals.aol.com/aimer/on-my-mind/

Anonymous said...

I thuroughly enjoyed your poem!  Glad you submitted to CarnivAol.  -  Barbara

Anonymous said...

I have sent your link to my sister Ann who is accessing the dream journal as she writes what she calls 'bullgal' poetry, the female version of cowboy poetry, and is an absolute expert. I am going to give you my link to my poem somewhat in this vein for my entry next week!  I met up with too many poets who hate what they call 'rhymers' in my earlier days so my impulse to write cowboy poetry was thoroughly squelched.  I admire anyone who has the nerve try it no matter what 'they' say!   Gerry

Anonymous said...

          20 ENTRIES....no one can tell me that people don't love the great rhymed poems, cowboy or not, no matter what sneering modern poets say.  The Great Bukowski's line was "Rhyming is shit."  But I love the rhyme...it appeals to me...it makes me feel good and I really don't care what anyone says.   If I want to write those cowboy lines, I will.  And if I love those poems I read, I will say so.   And I did love your cowboy poetry, plittle.   I enjoyed the cowboy, the fire, the dusk,
the expanse of his life.  Good job.  Well done.    Reynking...(I write Bullgal poetry about the women of the west from my particular area, southern Utah.  I am always looking for another good story.)

Anonymous said...

  Those who sneer at rhyming poetry do so because it frustrates them. It's hard to do. At least, it's hard to do well. You'll notice that the majority of my poetry [to be found at (not cowboy poetry) - http://journals.aol.ca/plittle/journal4/ ] does not rhyme.
-Paul

Call me Paul said...

An update to that last comment...
(not cowboy poetry) nolonger exists at the quoted address. It can now be found at http://notcowboypoetry.blogspot.com/.