Cowboy Poetry and Western Verse

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The Brown Eyed Calf
Larry Bradfield

Now, ol' Dan was a calf roper
Won lots of cash that way.
He'd rope at county fairs and such
A big boost to his pay.

He done it for so many years,
They got to seem the same.
Sometimes he lost track of the town
Could not recall the name.

So it weren't no great big surprise
That calves seemed all alike
He'd rope and tie 'em, get his pay,
And go on down the pike.

Then one day in some Texas town
It somehow went awry,
Didn't seem to be no reason,
He couldn't figger why.

He'd thrown a calf down on its side
And glanced into its eyes.
Somethin' happened, he don't know what,
The calf looked downright wise.

He heard the calf begin to speak,
"You don't know what you've done..
I won't always be this little -
Your time will surely come !"

Well, Dan just purely came unstuck,
He staggered to his horse.
Rode out the gate and down the street
Just drippin' with remorse.

He switched to ridin' bulls instead,
So he won't see those eyes.
Won't have to look into that face
And tell himself them lies.

And then one day in Abilene
He'd settled in the chute.
While he was wrappin' up his hand
A voice came from that brute.

"Well lookey here, it's you again,
I told you I'd get growed !
The jokes on you this time, my friend,
Ain't me that's gettin' throwed."

"Just touch me with them spurs and watch
What happens to yor' bones.
I aim to scatter you around
And listen to yor' moans."

They opened up the gate just then
Out came that snortin' beast.
But Dan weren't nowhere to be seen,
Some say he headed East.
 
They say he lives a simple life
Never seems to laugh.
He tells the same ol' story 'bout
The brown eyed killer calf.
Larry Bradfield
2013