Goin' for Broke/Poem/Bette Wolf Duncan

(Judith Basin, Montana-1880)

That hoof beat staccato!

I cotton the beat.

Let me hear the work sounds

of your range drummin' feet.

Wake up, my four footed,

star chasin' friends.

It's time for my pamperin'

you ponies to end.

The stars have all gone.

It's a sun's peek past dawn.

We're weeks from the railroad;

and late movin' on.

Come alive, you wind racers.

The summer's grown old.

The winds from Alberta

are blowin' in cold.

The winged flocks of wild geese

are passin' us by.

Get fixed for high ridin'.

Get ready to fly.

...No lead-footed bangtails

in this wrangler's herd.

Don Pegasus wings

and fly like a bird.

The waddies are waitin'

with  bank-notes of beef.

We've trouble enough

so don't give us more grief.

We're six weeks from Casper...

a long way t' go;

and the winds from Alberta

are whisperin' of snow.

We should a left sooner,

of that there's no doubt;

but late summer cloudbursts

left trails flooded out.

This ranchin's a gamble.

Some years things go fine....

and some years they don't-

which is most of the time.

The cowboys are waitin'.

There's cattle t' drive.

Get a move on you Cayuse!

The dawn's come alive.

You won't get no coddlin'

from this worried Poke.

We're six weeks from Casper

and goin' for broke!!!

© 2009, Bette Wolf  Duncan

This poem may not be reprinted or reposted without the author's written permission.