For the Love of a Hat
Three girls weathered the Arizona heat
Ranch hands distributed straw cowboy hats
Without them we’d have fallen to sun’s defeat
As our horses bounded through desert flats
Far faster than the onlooking wildcats
My comrades suffering from heat stroke
We chilled the next day and drove to Tombstone
Where spirits of Wyatt and his crew were evoked
Marshal’s badges for sale, tickled my funny bone
Placed on my hat, in the sun the badge shone
The next day we rode again full speed
Tense fists clinging to the saddle horn
Through an area best known for tumbleweed
My hat flew off, a cactus now adorned
No longer on my head was it worn
After we returned to the stable
I set out on foot and retrieved my marshal hat
To reach it, I was nearly disabled
Coyotes did not put out a welcome mat
To shoo them away, I swung cactus like a bat
*Entry for Carol’s “My Favorite Hat or Bonnet” contest. (True, but for the swinging
of the cactus -- ouch!)
Copyright © Carolyn Devonshire | Year Posted 2011
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