The Cowboy Way - Final Third
This is, as indicated, the final THIRD of this fairly lengthy poem. Due to Poetry Soup's file-size limitations, this piece had to be posted in 3 parts.
The 1st and 2nd thirds can be accessed, of course, by going to - "Poems by Mark Stellinga" - on the Soup. Sorry for the inconvenience...it's definitely worth the read if you like happy ending stories -
“Water’s on the wagon, if ya’ want some,” Buck explained. “Looks like Curly beat ya’ to the punch.
Maybe if we whine enough…swear to God we’re starvin’…an’ never had no breakfast - or no lunch…
“You an’ I can snag ourselves a couple plates o’ vittles. You’ve prob’ly never tasted ‘cowboy’ food,
An’ one o’ Coosie’s favorite things is hearin’, ‘Damn, that’s good,’ when grub he’s made is sampled by - a ‘dude.’
“Nothin’ wrong with bein’ raw - but ain’t no way to hide it - it’s plain as it can be…you’re turnip green!
Lots o’ younger fellas git to cowboy ‘round these parts. The kid that’s breakin’ colts is seventeen…
“But even he’s been - ‘roun’ the horn’ - (as cowboy’s like to say). He’s done his share to git to where he is.
His older brother broke last fall, but this year Toby’s drovin’…so now, the job he’s waited for is his.
“Might be kinda busy in the mornin’. Hard to say. Prob’ly oughta introduce ya’ now.
Fittin’ in with fifteen hun’erd head - an’ forty hands - is perty tough…but - Curly ‘ll show ya’ how!”
Droppin’ down beside his horse - then doin’ just like Buck - he whipped his reins around a hitchin’ post…
Patted Bandelero on the neck, then raced to meet the hand on which ol’ Buck had done the boast.
“T. D….this is Curly,” Buck began…then said to Curly, “I guess this feller here prefers - ‘T. D.’!
T. D.’s come to stay with us…but as it stands right now…this ain’t the kind o’ place he’d like to be.
“He’s stayin’ at the ranch tonight - but startin’ in the mornin’ - we’re s’posed to teach him everything we can.
Back in New York City he was hangin’ out with trouble. His daddy feels he’ll make a better man
“If us an’ Rowdy take his reins an’ lead him down a path that ain’t all boogered up with creeps and thugs,
Where streets are actually safe and clean, an’ two things he won’t see - are prostitutes - and scumbags sellin’ drugs!”
T. D. walked up friendly-like and ventured, “Howdy, Curly…you’re prob’ly mad they’re sticking you with me!”
“Oh, I don’t mind,” a sweet an’ silky accent answered back. Good grief, he thought…the ‘hoodlum’…is a she!
Standin’ there in total shock, he had to ask himself, “Can cowboys learn the things they do - from girls?”
But then - from out beneath her hat (spilling as she doffed it), a great big silky pile of auburn curls
Pret’ near took his breath away…and as she left the shadows - dancing in her piercing emerald eyes -
T. D. saw the flick’ring of the campfire…and was smitten - by beauty that reality defies!
Buck - a wise, perceptive man - could easily see the boy was knocked fer quite a loop by what he’d seen.
Actually rendered speechless by her softly glistening hair - her ivory skin - and sparkling eyes of green,
And he was quick to realize - (and T. D. started hopin’) - that theirs would be a friendship strong and true.
“Her name is actually Gail,” he said…“but Curly’s what we call her. I think it’s fairly plain fer why we do.
“Time to head on back,” Buck added…“git what sleep we can. We’re glad you’re here, an’…glad you joined our crew.
An’ if ya’ give it all ya’ got, you’ll make your father proud….an’ that’ll go fer me an’ Rowdy, too.”
That was thirty-six years ago! Which - if you do the math - has T. D. Jr.’s age at forty-eight.
And every year the Waldenthorps commuted back and forth between that big ol’ ranch and New York state.
On his twenty-first birthday - with help from Mom and Dad - he bought himself a ranch …..and you know where?
Right next door to Rowdy’s - so the woman that he married…the one the hands had nicknamed for her hair…
Only had to ride a couple miles across the prairie to visit with her fam’ly…and with Buck.
And T. D. actually wound up offerin’ Buck a thousand dollars if he’d be kind enough to sell his truck,
But Buck retired a year ago, an’ bought himself a Harley, an’, since T. D. had chose the ranchin’ life -
He gave that rusty pile o’ junk to T. D. - as a present,his gift - fer takin’ Curly fer his wife!
An’ more than once I’ve heard him say, “There’s no way I can pay the debt that I owe Rowdy, Buck, an’ Dad!”
An’ now - as Governor Waldenthorp - he testifies profusely that most the greatest times he ever had
Happened there on Rowdy’s ranch - where he’d become a man. And when his kids complainhe’ll always say... “Because it did so much for both your mother and myself…we’re going to raise you all....‘the cowboy way!’”
PS: I've now got 4 new Audio-CDs - @ 4 1/2 hours each = (62 diversely varied pieces). They’re listed on EBAY - under - “Mark Stellinga Poetry” - or available by simply contacting me at -- mark@writerofbooks.com -- should those of you who enjoy listening to poems as well as reading them - and particularly those of you that travel - care to be so entertained. (We use safe and simple - PayPal)
Cheers,
Mark
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