Tumbleweeds tossing

red sky of wind

flat land to the horizon

Grabbing for hat

too late it’s gone

half mile away it goes flying

Goats bleat the crossing

hogs flaring chins

chicken with cocked eye rising

Horse hair laid flat

galloping on

handsome young cowboy is sighing

Grass whipping legs

chapless blue jeans

sights set on barbed wire mapping

Dust hidden trail

dirt in the eyes

ears turned away from the blowing

Trough’s rusty edge

algae so green

snake coiled startled from napping

Rattles its tail

hissing surprise

handsome young cowboy unknowing—

Hears it too late

two spots of blood

fangs stab through boot heel’s leather

Stinging surprise

numbing the face

somewhere a hound dog starts crying

Grabbing for gate

dirt turns to mud

sandstorm gives way to wet weather

Downward he lies

leaving the race

handsome young cowboy is dying

Years down the road

tourist come here

reading a sign long erected

Here lies a man

who died in his prime

just when his train was full steam

A daring young rogue

of twenty one years

whose body wasn’t detected

Till shifting of sand

through passing of time

presented it plain and pristine

Copyright © 2009 Arley Owens, Jr. All Rights Reserved