The Ballad of Dan Lowe

Chorus:                River pronounced Key-yip-pa-ha

Keya Paha River
Keya Paha River
Keya Paha River
The home of Dan Lowe's dream.

Narration:

When a cowboy's day is over,
And the campfire's burning bright,
We can see Dan sit and wonder,
What will spoil his sleep tonight.

Will a stampede caused by lightening,
Cracking high above their heads,
Rout him from his bed roll,
To run the race with death?

Or will the night be peaceful,
With the cattle singing low,
And Whip-poor Wills calling,
To the Mocking birds below?

Dreaming of his sweetheart,
And days that are to come,
Of the pretty little ranch,
They will settle on and run.

Down by the old Keya Paha,
With the rolling hills of green,
Where the springs are soft and gentle,
The winters hard and mean.

In summer how they sweat and slave,
To get in winter feed,
And stand by helplessly and watch,
Fire work it's deadly deed.

With calving time and branding time,
When northers fiercely blow,
They stand and watch together,
As their family starts to grow.

Then suddenly it happened,
That dreaded thundering sound,
We scrambled from our bed rolls,
And raced for higher ground.

Cut off from our horses,
It was our only chance,
I made a leap and hung on tight,
The herd was coming fast.

Flashing horns! Flying hooves!
Hot breath and eyes that glare,
Choking dust, frightened screams,
The smell of sweaty hair.

Quickly, it was over,
And stunned we gathered there,
Tom and Joe, Dick and Bill,
With thoughts we didn't dare.

When we all had wandered in,
We each knew at a glance,
The dream that we had listened to,
Would never come to pass.

It is a mystery how it happened,
And why it took Dan Lowe,
But each of us hold in our heart,
A dream that turned to gold.

When a cowboy's day is over,
And the campfire's burning bright,
We can see Dan sit and wonder,
What will spoil his sleep tonight.

Chorus:

                      Cile Beer

written l975

Copyright © | Year Posted 2005



Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Date: 12/18/2016 4:58:00 AM
Absolutely magnificent. It stirs the heart to read poetry of this caliber !
Login to Reply
Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Reflection on the Important Things

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Hide Ad