Cowboy Poetry

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Mind Grazing
Robert C. Atkin

The last star faded in the heavens
As I rode in from the graveyard shift
Mist floated above the marshes
The horizon was startin' to lift

The cattle slowly ambled
Down for their mornin' drink
I gave my pony his head
Sat back and started to think

I thought about how lucky I was
To live in a land where I am free
To travel about unfettered
The master of my own destiny

I thought about the years gone by
And of how this country did change
Of the denizens of concrete jungles
And of life out here on the range

I thought of world conflicts
That annihilated our fathers and brothers
I thought of those; too; left behind
Ah yes; those dear sisters and mothers

I know not how long I wandered
Through this passage of meandering thought
But I searched each chapter carefully
Not finding the answers I sought

Maybe there are no solutions
For these seeds that history has sewn
Just mysteries for the fertile mind
To decipher when left on their own

So I think I'll go on searching
And just maybe someday I'll find
The piece that'll complete the puzzle
In the pastures of my mind