Best Badlands Poems

Rather lost, they stare over the divide,
how best to circumnavigate this obstacle?
They can see a path gently sloping down
but it is far off to the north two days ride.

West is back from whence they had come,
east is an impassable cliff of sheer rocks.
They can not...

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The Badlands

Can you see what they’re lookin’ at or
Hear what they say? 
Maybe they’re stoppin’ to take time to pray.
Could they know the ending is near?
 Fate may have brought them a measure of fear.
We’ve followed them far and seen what they’ve done –
And now...

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Hey, buddy, Bob! Now the time is different
It is not what it used to be.
The days of the drives and roundups
The campfire, the smell of beans burning.
Pointing gun at someone to get
Some biscuits, tobacco or fruits
Those little comforts to grab.

Look there, over and down the...

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Cowboys in the Badlands 

Out West, across the great divide
great open spaces oceans wide.
Beauty in these badlands does hide
everything fights us as we ride.

Last stop, was exciting wild Abilene
shot an hombre that was very mean.
Watched him bleed as he slowly died
his gal held him and...

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The wilderness in Arizona during cowboy days was for the adventurous to journey far away from their home front into the great divide where wolves and coyotes could take their lives.  They were skilled hunters and master trappers that could spot a prairie dog...

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Said Hank to his pard, "I reckon we took a wrong turn back yonder!
How we ended up in this here gawd awful place I'll ferever ponder."

"Ya shoulda listened to me when we come to that Y in the trail,
But, no, you insisted we go left...

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The two Cowboys stood at the cliff of a great divide.
Jacob stood, starring across the opening with Bill still
in his saddle, close by his side. The rocky scene was like
A kaleidoscope, every color, ever known.
Is there any other place you would rather be Bill?
Bill said,...

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Out west, near Black Hills, over South Dakota way,
On land where layered rocks records eons before –
Some thieves rode the badlands that hot steamy day.

Rough riding rustlers raided a ranch; stole a boar.
Those thieves took, tackle, grain, food, and wine grapes.
Two rife and rifled cowboys...

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At last, a refuge from the wind and sand
Afraid of the posse that was still on their heels
Now they could loose themselves in the badlands
Wondering why they had ever decided to steal

The horses worn down something terrible
Not much left of the beans and the bacon
Canteens...

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Deep in the Badlands, are canyons that claim
many a man, who rides without name
He's hiding or runnin', from somethun' he's done
Outcast, or outlaw....without any fame
but keeping a lookout for someone to come

A hawk circles low, on a brown afternoon,
like a curious vagrant, in the land...

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“Let ‘em loose,” came his bellowing yell,
“I got 3,000 head I gotta to sell,
Goin' 1,000 miles in weather that's hell,
You're all gonna sweat and all gonna smell”-

The boss’s eyes on ten cowboys did lay,
With disdain in his words he smirked to say,
“Keep ‘em cattle rollin',...

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Cowboys in the Badlands


The horses need be reined tightly
lest they show better judgment
and head back to the barn.  The
cowboys, driven by the dust cloud
of following hoof beats, were less smart.
A Gila monster smirks as they pass
knowing what waits ahead is to be
more painful than...

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The red sun cuts the gray sky like a dull knife
Morning, after fighting a long fireless night
We need to get to the Hole in the Wall
The Big Horn Mountains are cold in moonlight

We robbed a bank a couple days ago
A small dusty town in Johnson...

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The wild stallion's whinny echos across the harsh, dry canyons,
The sun dries the lands, leaving only cacti,
But the cowboy, strong and proud sits on his mighty stallion,
The king of the Badlands,
The coyote whimper as he passes,
The snakes slither away at his step,
All bow to him,
King...

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You can see them comin over the ridge,
The sun at their back.
The outline of their steeds they ride,
The dust they are kicking up as they blaze their trail.
The cowboys ride into town without fear in their eyes.
Years of trails wear on their skin,
Making their hands...

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