Sidney Beck Poet Couplet

A Cowboy Is

A  COWBOY   IS

Who is a cowboy,  what can  be stated?
Shane, the ideal hero, brave but understated.
Eastwood, tough, fair, evens  up   the score.
Wayne, big shoulders, represents goodness, law.
These are fictitious figments of  movie dreams
Their actual life was not what it seems
Real cowboys were lonely and died young
With  broken leg or shot in the lung,
Injuries  untreated, isolation, meals uneaten,
Loneliness, poverty, danger, savagely beaten.
Best friend his horse;  best tool  - his gun  -
Was rarely used, and never for fun.
Never a deadly shot, never hit an ace-card.
His life was often ended by wolves  - hard.
Illusory movies like Magnificent Seven
Tell a fairy tale story of hard-working men
With an unhealthy and short life, ending when
Dead  -  more like  The Dirty Dozen.

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Carolyn Devonshire March 11, 2011 at 1:12 PM Eastwood and Wayne make great "imaginery" icons, Syd, but as you point out so well in your poem, it's really a lonely and dangerous way of life. We tend to glorify everything tied to the old West. Still, I wish I were able to spend my days riding horses. Best wishes in the contest with this honest portrayal of a cowboy's life. Love, Carolyn