Rodeo Blues

Riding against the wind, merciless memories nipping at her heels wearing a Pollyanna mask & a ready laugh to hide the hurt she feels The stinging words she heard that day hammer her heart like driving rain she sips thunder & lightning from a bottle but she can’t escape the pain Rodeo has held her in its spell for all of her nineteen years Its taught her to make friends with danger & never shrink from fear Gave her a healthy respect for a life well lived & showed her its rewards She’s better off for the lessons learned in the back chutes & stockyards She thought she was well prepared for any hand that Rodeo dealt Until that fateful phone call, a worse pain she’s never felt She’d given her heart to a wild Bullrider, a good man through & through Family, friend or stranger, he gave the best to all he knew Around midnight the night before, he’d left for an exhibition ride one last promise to fulfill before starting a new life with his bride she’d spoke to him early that morning, a quick “I love you” & “Good Luck” By quarter past ten he was in the chute, shouting “throw the gate & let ‘em buck” Three jumps & a crazy eight twist, the rigging split with a sickening snap In seconds his life ended, silence roared through the arena like a thunderclap The phone was ringing back in Tucson as she pulled up to the house The caller spoke in monotone igniting a fire never to be doused She still love’s the Rodeo, still answer its bittersweet call and she keeps his rigging bag in the closet down the hall She grew up quick in an eight second flash & paid her Rodeo dues Now she’s riding hard against the wind & singing the Rodeo Blues (c) August 2003