The Cowboy Way - 1st Third
This is, as indicated, the 1st THIRD of this lengthy poem. The 2nd and final thirds had to be posted separately due to Poetry Soup's file-size limitations. No other way I could manage to make it happen...you'll find the other 2 portions at Mark Stellinga Poems on the Soup of course - don't give up, it's definitely worth reading to the finish, it's a wonderful story with a happy ending -
Thadeus Delmond Waldenthorp the 3rd arrived on Sunday - ‘bout quarter after four- by private jet!
He’d never had to stand up on his own two feet, but now…his father’d said, “It’s time he got ‘em wet.”
Little T. D., Jr. was disgusted by the prospect of learnin’ what a ranch was all about,
And when the airplane landed it was all his folks could do to fin’ly drag that little booger out.
“I hate this place already,” he exploded at his father. “It smells like rotten hay and old manure!
What’s the point in forcing me to learn the ‘cowboy way’…and how much can an twelve year old endure?”
‘Round about a minute later - trotting passed the plane - there happened by an old decrepit horse.
Seeing this pathetic beast come slowly plodding by would only serve to deepen his remorse.
“This is what they ride out here?” he queried T. D., Sr. That walkin’ pile o’ bones could pass for dead!”
His father turned to board the jet, then glancing back, he countered, “Son…remember everything I said.
“Rowdy Bob’s the wisest man I know, and when he’s through ‘teaching you the ropes’, (as cowboys say) -
If you’re only half the man that he is, son, you’ll be……twenty times the man you are today!
Screeching up to meet him - as the airplane disappeared - an old red truck (its hood held down with twine),
Covered him - and everything he had - with so much dust…he couldn’t muster breath enough to whine.
Choking out - sarcastically - the comment, “Golly gee…I love the way you’ve customized your truck,”
Through the dust, a firm but friendly Texas drawl replied…“Howdy, little feller…
my name’s Buck.”
“Toss yer duds in back and climb on in,” the man went on. “I’ll take you to the bunkhouse…move ya’ in… An’ then we‘ll saddle up an’ ride on out to where the boys are brandin’ calves and wranglin’ - ‘round the pen.
“Golly gee, I just can’t wait,” the snotty little stinker spouted off…“I’m sure I’ll have a blast.
The way this piece o’ garbage sounds, I’ll bet that half-dead horse would get us where we’re goin’ twice as fast.”
Rollin’ ‘cross the prairie, not another word was said, and T. D.’s lower lip was out a mile.
Glancin’ up to study Buck - who turned to check him too - then hit ‘im with a big ol’ toothy smile -
“Ain’t you glad to be here, son,” a curious Buck inquired…“don’t you think the cowboy life’s for you?”
Maybe by the time you leave you’ll think it ain’t so bad. It all depends, o’ course, on…how ya’ do.
“After chuck this evenin’ we’ll be goin’ straight to bed, cause all of us is gittin’ up at dawn!
Workin’ side by side with Curly - Rowdy’s youngest one - ‘ll make you strong as hell before you’re gone.
“Rowdy said to pick you out a horse that’s lost its fight, but knows it way around - and likes to run.
That’s the fastest way, he said, to teach a - “tenderfoot”…how to ride a horse - while havin’ fun!
“Think I’ll prob’ly pair you off with sweet old Bandelero. She’s never throwed a boy your age or size.
The only thing she does that’s bad is…when she’s feelin’ orn’ry…liftin’ up her tail an’ squirtin’ pies!
“She knows she ain’t real perty, so…whenever people gawk…she finds a way to make them pay the price.
Most the time she’s gentle, but I’ve seen her - when she’s angry - stoop to doin’ things that ain’t too nice!
“One time, when some feller stopped behind her and his cell rang…just as he was digging out his phone…
Bandelero actually raised her tail an’ let ‘er rip! That rooster tail done drenched him to the bone!
All the while T. D.’d been doin’ his best to keep from smilin’…but, fin’ly, he done all but split a gut!
“Serves him right for spookin’ her,” he absolutely roared, “by talkin’ on his phone behind her butt!”
After calmin’ down a bit, the youngster started talkin’: “I’ve watched a lot of westerns on TV,
And all they do is ride around - shootin’ thieves an’ injuns! Don’t look like a real tough life to me.
“What’s a cowboy do all day? And what about this “code” my daddy tells me guides the way he lives? He says, ‘A man is measured not by -- what he has in life…but rather by the things he does -- and gives.’
“Son, you’re daddy’s right,” Buck said, “that’s why he brung ya’ here. He knows because…an’ while…you’re still a pup…
Spendin’ time on Rowdy’s ranch ‘ll teach ya’ many things a lot o’ kids don’t learn while growin’ up.
Now, slide into the 2nd third, and then the final third - the happy ending - it's a super poem -
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