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Cowboy Poetry and Western Verse
Serenity
Douglas Polk
bored from the summer heat,
Billy decides to see if he can break Old Gray,
word travels at breakneck speed,
everyone finding their way to the corral,
at the end of the day,
to possibly watch history being made,
the horses brought in,
Old Gray moves this way and that,
sacrificing his mates to the rope,
but the rope never thrown,
Billy still twirling it,
stalks Old Gray,
dust stirs as Old Gray pushes the horses from one end of the corral to the other,
hiding as best he could,
finally bored Old Gray allows himself to be caught,
haltered and saddled his eyes glare,
his business face on,
Billy mounts up,
and lasts a jump or two,
again, and again,
and again,
until the crowd starts to melt away,
bruised and bloodied,
Billy sits on the ground,
outside the corral,
contemplating another try,
an old cowboy enters the corral,
Old Gray walks over,
and stands still til the saddle off,
the old cowboy reciting the alcoholic's prayer,
"God grant me the serenity . . . . ."
as Old Gray storms out the gate.
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