Cheyenne at 100

      (Paul Simon was right)
Back to the Cowboy's Poetry

Jimmy jumped the bandstand on Leo while chasin’ down a runaway bull,

An’ Tuf pulled it out, again, on his final eight, only this time

he did it with style, arrangin’ for a flash of lightenin’ to accompany the horn!

Somethin’ about Cheyenne, even in her old age,

Causes us to show up, to again engage

In our annual ritual of liniment and braces,

Of camaraderie with the sun-worn faces

Of old friends, bent on another round of ridin’ the edge

And enjoyin’ the view from up on that high ledge.

Lane was there, as he has been ever since that day

In the mud.  He’ll still be there, long after we fade away,

Immortal, all because of his mortality and his smile

And the way he was, full of charm, wildness, and child.

The ladies were there, from Denver on out,

Lookin’ for cowboy excitement no doubt,

Dancin’ and drinkin’ and gettin’ look-at-me loud,

Struttin’ their stuff ‘mongst the overflow crowd

While they made like they didn’t notice, like they were too great

For just any old cowhand who’d just gotten his eight.

The boys all just chuckled and went on their way

Knowin’ they’d see ‘em much later that day.

I think next year, on the hundred and first,

I’ll sit back by the chutes, quenchin’ my thirst

For the ropin’ and ridin’ and bailin’ out quick,

For the twistin’ and turnin’ and tryin’ to stick

It for eight short seconds that seem a whole day,

But I ain’t gonna worry ‘bout takin’ home pay

Or whether or not buckle bunnies come by,

I think I’ll just sit there and stare at the sky

And ‘member all of my Frontier Days scenes,

Then go lie in the grass, content with my dreams.

Written in the late ‘90’s on the hundredth anniversary of Cheyenne Frontier Days