Like old stories recited around a country campfire, ranch hands have recited cowboy poetry for many of the same reasons. It's a Western art form. I hope you enjoy it.
The Cowboy Poetry and Western Verse section begins by spotlighting the western authors who have contributed at least five poems to the Rope and Wire website. Click on the authors name to read the poems for that author.
If you continue to scroll down, you will find many more great Cowboy Poetry by authors who have yet to reach the Spotlight.
Simple Pleasures
Simple Pleasures
By Stephen Gese'
A good steak hangin on the spit
fried tatters in a pan
brown dutch oven biscuits
cold peaches from a can
Don't need no fancy tableware
no linen on my lap
I'll leave my hat on, eat my fill
then take a little nap
What Yer Worth
What Yer Worth
Harold Roy Miller
My best friend Slim is a shiftless cowboy who would rather count sheep than cows.
When dodging a task, he’ll use every ploy to work no more than the law allows.
Luther's Chicken
Luther's Chicken
By Dave P. Fisher
Luther and the boys were loafin’ on the porch of Harvey’s feed and seed,
Discussin’ the weather and politics, and bragging on their every deed.
Luther and Evert was in a checker game when old Evert made a face,
And scolded the boys for lyin’ and braggin’, and called it a plum disgrace."
The Kid
The Kid
By Dave P. Fisher
She put him on the bus in Vegas, one way bound for her brother Ed,
To his ranch up north and out of the city, before he wound up dead.
He was bad at sixteen, a liar and fighter; he beat all she ever saw,
But it was because there was no man to guide him, the boy he had no pa.
Bob Wire
Bob Wire
By Terry Burns
I've got me a hold on this old barb wire
and it puts me in a mood to retire
every time I have to come and fix this fence.
I use all the words the preacher don't know
and yes I cuss this so and so
in a manner that just ain't common among gents.
Bad Road
Bad Road
By Terry Burns
Got to do 40 miles of real bad road
driving this wagon and toting this load
and when I get through I got me a windmill to fix.
Then I gotta lotta fence to mend
and gotta build a pen for the hens
and gotta fill the firebox with a big armload of sticks.
Cowboy Philosopher
Cowboy Philosopher
By Norm Rourke
“Ever wonder why the nights are so clear
out here on the open plains?”
He asked this question with his face upturned,
While I fiddled with my reins.
“No, guess not,” says I, feeling a bit undone,
Not knowing what I could say.
“Never could figure how the stars could be so bright
‘n still be so far away.”
There Once Was A Cowboy
There Once Was A Cowboy
by C J Friend
There once was a cowboy in old San Antone,
His hoss so skinny you could see every bone.
Yet, faster'n lightnin' that hoss could run
He'd be in Waco by the settin' of the sun.
One day this cowboy rode away from Tucson
His pockets a jinglin' from money he'd won
From racin' his pony to Phoenix and back,
For he had arrived hours ahead of the pack.
The Eulogy
The Eulogy
By Dallas McCord
Three cowboys died in a wild stampede.
It was one hell of a wreck.
Poor 'ol Charlie was stomped to death,
Slim and Buster broke their necks.
All three met St. Peter
Just outside them pearly gates.
St. Peter said now tell me boys,
what do you think about yer fate?
They're gonna be havin' your funerals
in just a couple of days,
and they'll be talkin' at yer eulogy's
what would you have them say?
Shorty and Stubb Go to the City
Shorty and Stubb Go to the City
by Dave P. Fisher
Now, Shorty and Stubb were a couple of real top notch buckaroos,
They’d cut their teeth on latigo leather and had long since paid their
dues
Them boys never missed with a catch rope and could ride anything with
hair