Say Cowboy To Me

C&I's Poem of the Week for 1/4/2012

BY SALLY HARPER BATES

If you say the word “cowboy” to me
It evokes a strong memory
Of men that I knew who were tried and true
And paid the cost to ride free

You can argue the word is a noun
An adjective, or a verb
What goes with the title is not just a word
It’s a western degree that is earned.

Like a PHD, BS or MD
There’s a cost in dollars and years
And owning a ranch doesn’t earn the degree
It comes with sweat, pain and peers

A degree that’s earned the hard way
Through manure and dust every day
A true cowboy’s heart is built, it’s not bought
You can’t pick one up on the way

If you own a good rope horse and ride
And own forty acres of pride
That won’t make a hand who rides for the brand
Whose face has the feel of rawhide

Don’t say the word cowboy to me
Unless you know just what it means
A degree that was earned, a trade that was learned
On a diet of beef and beans

C&I's poem of the week for 01/04/2012. To submit your poems for consideration, please send them to mail@cowboysindians.com with "poetry" in the subject line. Selected entries will appear online.

Filed under: Poem of the Week