Best Gunslinger Poems
Billy the kid kept roving around,
A campfire here, a cowhand there,
He traveled alone through country & town,
Always headed somewhere,
One certain day he rode into town,
His forty-five strapped on his side,
Just to stop and drink one round,
Then continue on with his ride,
He hitched his horse and went in thru,
The front tavern bat-wing doors,
He didn't see anyone he knew,
Just a couple cowboys and some _hores,
He moseyed on up, ordered a drink,
Sarsaparilla I'll have here for me!
Down the hatch, smooth as a wink,
Then he was given another for free,
He thanked the man kindly, turned around,
To leave thru the bat-winged door,
A cowboy stood up and stared Billy down,
Lookin' for trouble and more!
[Cowboy]: "Hey boy! let me teach ya how ta shoot!
Come"ere gimmee that there gun!"
"If'n ya don't I'm gonna plant this 'ere boot!
I'll show ya how the real West is run!"
[Billy]: "Mister, I'm not here ta play!"
"I've dealt with yer kind before,
"So please kindly step outa my way,
And be thankful ya don't see me no more."
[Cowboy]: "Boy! yer messin' with Danger Dan...man!"
"And yer jawin's 'bout ta seal yer fate!"
[Billy]: "Mister, yer soon to be Dan the damned man!"
"If yer gun ain't shootin' fast 'n' straight!"
"Like a rattlesnake springin' from the devils hand!"
"Billys gun cleared his holster that fast!"
"Billy's bullet knocked the gun out of Danger Dan's hand!"
"In a single straight shot blast!"
[Cowboy]: "Uh-h-h! I ain't ever seen a gun so fast!
As the one ya shot sure coulda killed me!"
"Should ya pardon my trouble, may I ask...
What is yer name....really?"
[Billy]: "Mister, it's how ya live, not how fast the gun,"
"that makes a man a man,"
"Most my life's been on the run,
Killin's no future or plan!"
"I'm stranger to most, still livin' the past,
Feelin' bad ta what I did,
"Some crossed my path, ain't here ta boast,
I'm Billy The Kid!"
The sounds of wolves howling... echoed loudly,
deep in the solitary woods of no mans land,
While the blazing campfire shared its hearth proudly,
heating the pot of coffee Kid Colt had close at hand,
Each day rehashed such thoughts of how it could be,
for one labeled an outlaw man,
Would it be jail....or staying free,
or getting dealt the dead mans hand?
Staying on the run is sure trouble,
when yer wanted dead or alive fer a crime,
If yer shot dead, all they need is a shovel,
alive, it's a hanging or prison time,
Card games can bring out the worse in a man,
if yer drinking gets ya mouthy and drunk,
and blaming a player of a cheating hand,
could be yer jawin' on too big a chunk!
Saw many a man shot between the eyes,
and some plumb through the chest!
Too slow a gun, ain't no surprise,
The fastest can be the deadliest!
Never plan to kill over a triple jack hand,
and don't fancy getting called a cheat in any card play!
Not enough guts could get ya shot in the back, and,
could have, can't back down, turn around, can't walk away.
"Epic Epigram"
His name came rightly so,
He carried two colts wherever he'd go,
"The Outlaw" came, from his death dealing draw!
during card games or a fist fighting brawl!
Boom! down one went! Boom! Boom! 3 bullets spent!
Boom! Boom! Boom! hell bound they're sent,
by Kid Colt, The Outlaw Gent.
Fairly
Squarely
Rarely
Barely
Shot from the hip fairly, squarely true
Loaded clip but, rarely, barely drew
1-19-2018
Buck was a tough man
very fast with his gun
always just one step
ahead of the law
He rode from town to town
never staying all that long
because as soon as word got out
the young gunslingers would come
Now Buck was not a man
to go looking for trouble
but it seemed that some how
it was his middle name
Really all he wanted to do
was marry his sweetheart
and raise a fine family
to live peacefully with them
He had a small hideaway
high up in the Rockies
a simple log cabin
where he could hole up
Not the place to take a bride
far too isolated and bare
talking to Betty he asked her
to purchase some land
Make it down in lush valley
he told her, we can raise cattle
a few horses to start a herd
maybe some hens and geese for eggs
Betty found a prime piece of land
with a cool bubbling spring
trees to shelter and give shade
sweet green grass to feed them all
Buck and Betty got married at last
soon built a fine house and barn
with a corral and stables
yet all too soon their bliss shattered
Young gunslingers heard where he was
dropping by to chance their luck
ending up in wooden coffins
because Buck was real fast
Until one day the townspeople
rode out to see Buck
they wanted him to be their sheriff
to protect them from the bandits
Buck agreed to wear the badge
and rid the town of the bad guys
each day he patrolled the territory
many baddies he lay to rest
Yet he felt he had no real peace
that his life was on borrowed time
he wanted to live his life quietly
tending to family and his ranch
This seemed a wistful thought
as still yet more gunslingers came
one day he knew he'd meet a faster gun
and end his life face down in dirt
One day while build a nursery he got
Betty to chop while he held the logs
well Betty missed and got his fingers
cutting them clean off only stumps left
It was his gun hand that was hurt
soon the word went around
the young guns stopped coming
no sport for them now
Buck finally got his dream
and lived to a ripe old age
siring five fine children
and many grandchildren
Against all the odds
he died quietly in bed
his last words to Betty were
"That was the best miss you ever made"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Only one scar, from a kid in Montana.
His mom had him placed in a field of lantana.
The kid was still smiling as smoke from his vest
plumed when the bullet slammed through his chest.
With a split second draw as smooth as fresh cream,
another man falls just short of his dream.
He doesn't pull quicker to take the man's life
but to save the man years of a gunslinger's strife.
A welter of faces has challenged his game
but the soles of their boots all look the same.
The fame he once sought now plagues him in curse;
too many men he's lain in the hearse.
One day soon he'll give a slight pause
and a younger gunslinger will take up the cause.
They'll come for him too, from the east to the west
and he too in mercy, will lay them yo rest.
A
preacher,
Jeremy
Winston lived out
West two-hundred years
ago. He was framed for
murder of his family.
Mammon offered him revenge if
Winston gave up his soul. Although killed,
he came back to life as Gunslinger Spawn!
Winston was commanded to kill all the
townspeople except for Parker, who
he was ordered to float down a
river in a casket. By
saving Parker, he saved
an ancestor of
Hellspawn, who would
destroy one
day the
world!
April 17, 2023
For the Spawn Character contest of Robert James Liguori
He was a gunslinger from the lone star state,
With a mind full of anger and a heart full of hate.
He wore two six shooters,one on each hip,
With the notches of the dead cut into the grip.
The eyes of this gunslinger showed no emotion or fear,
Every one kept there eyes on him when he was near.
Then along came a stranger,with a star upon his chest,
Looking for the man from the deep southwest.
He called the man out from the lone star state.
He knew that talking was useless,his words would carry no weight.
As they pulled there guns,the gunslinger gave it his best.
But the bullet that struck first was from the man with the star on his chest.
When the gunslinger hit the ground,the marshal asked him why,
The man from the lone star state showed emotion and shed a tear from his eye.
She was just a kid when the gang rode into town,
She was barely sixteen,why did they gun her down.
You finally put me to rest,the anger and hate will finally subside,
And as the gunslinger past away,the marshal finally knew why.
Gunslinger
I swung the doors open, hard and loud
My view was hindered by the cloud.
Of smoke and ash in hand and tray
As I darkly stood in that old doorway.
Dried blood 'n stale beer spotted the floor.
They told of bad stories while predicting more.
It was their place, I came from afar.
I was the stranger in the ol' folks bar.
I wasn't like 'dem, ol' regular folk.
I came with a holster not proverbial joke.
My face was grimy, my spurs showed rust,
I groaned, I shouted, and 'den I cussed.
She saw my move, it preceding her scream
Now before her eyes one horrific dream.
My hand with pistol rose into place
She lifted her arms and covered her face.
I downed my whiskey, 'da final drop
Everything slowed, then came to a stop.
I fired first once and again now twice
Then I left that ol' bar and 'dem two dead mice.
He use to carry guns,Back in the day.
But he had put them up,to start a new way.
He found a wife,and would settle down.
Just a short stretch,on the outside of town.
A young daughter,the two would raise.
And soon forgot, his gunslinger days.
Then they came,their intentions were clear.
To rob and kill,anyone who was here.
They left that house,one thing they would dread.
They didn't make sure,everyone was dead.
He opened his eyes,saw her laying on the floor.
As he caught a glimpse of them,a dozen or more.
He healed from his wounds,laid his little girl to rest.
He vowed for revenge,as he opened the chest.
He put his guns on again,looking straight ahead.
He would not stop,until they all were dead.
Out the door he went,to the house he would never return.
He would go to his grave,with a heart that would burn.
And now you know,the gunslingers story is told.
The killing of his family,and the way it would unfold.
High noon...
somewhere in the deep west
a drifter rides into town in need of a fresh horse and some rest.
He carries two 45's
custom made to his taste
with pearl handles and cursed steel
many a man have tasted their fate.
He carries no badge, rides without a gang
and for a purse of silver
all he needs is a location and a name.
He asks no questions
don't care about the man or his crimes
if justice comes by way of payment
then it'll be done swiftly and on time.
The deputy gets the sheriff
the body found late that afternoon
the dead man seemed to like his poker
in the towns seedy saloon.
the sheriff pushes back the slumped over gambler
to see the dead man's fate
two in the chest, one in the head
funny, the deputy chuckled, he was holding five eights.
The gunslinger rides north
it's been hours since the cheaters fate had been sealed
it's a half a day's ride to tombstone
there he'll pay for a woman and a meal.
but for now, he'll stop, build a fire
and listen to the coyote's sing
this is the life of a gunslinger
haunted by wanted posters
and what tomorrow may bring.
Copyright © Kurt Kohls |
Idyllic country setting, from somewhere in the past
Imagine an expanse of rich green grass
Running up to a fence, fronting a proud red barn
The subject of this timeless, yet timely yarn …
The sky painted with bright streaks, close to sunset
Showers had been falling; the world was still wet
From the smell of Spring rains that long linger
Blended with the acrid smoke of a lone gunslinger …
The barn door lay open, not a trace of the horse
Its stall disheveled, from the application of force
The hay unheaten, drops of blood all around
And the gun of a lone gunslinger left on the ground
The owner paused a moment, then wept like a child
Unabashed, herky-jerky, without end did he cry
'Cause he knew full well, as his tears they did swell
That his steed had fallen victim to a gunslinger from Hell
The sun set in the West; night had descended
The life of the horse over, finished, ended ...
Years later folks still recalled the yarn, and the smell
Of the stall emptied by a gunslinger, by his magnum's death knell
(Quick off the top of my haid)
Da dibble go down to Georgia
A town in Texas, who knew
He went on de run
He took his six gun
Lookin' for to doo wacka doo.
He comed across a young sure-shot
Targetin' a hickory stump
Dibble feelin' sly
Slithered up to this guy
And patted him upon the rump.
"What you doin' mistuh?
You hyeh lookin' to die?
We'll duel then you'll
End up a dead fool
For layin' yo' hand on my thigh."
Dey faced off and Johnny drew
But de dibble had drawn his too
They pissed in the wind
They humped and they sinned
And de dibble got his koo koo ka joo.
I rode into town with the sun sinking low,
I thought "it's too quiet, somehow they know"
I wrote his name on the bullet, loaded it into the gun
He had taken my farm and shot my dear son.
I walked in the saloon, I said "find me Maclay!"
The bartender whispered, "Boy, best walk away."
But vengeance runs deeper than whiskey or wine,
And I’d come too far to back down this time.
(Chorus)
It’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly out here,
You live by the gun and still you're in fear.
With a hand full of aces or a deck full of lead,
You’re either in the ranks of the quick or the dead.
A ghost from the past stood tall in the square,
His hand on his Colt, with a cold, steady glare.
"I sent you to hell, but you wouldn't stay,"
I grinned as I answered, "It's your turn to pay."
A flash, then a crack—smoke rose in the air,
And one man lay dying, the rules say it's fair.
No saints ride for sinners, angels won't wait,
Just an expedited road to Heaven’s Gate.
I should have been elated, but I just felt grim
Had I committed justice, or an unforgivable sin?
But the undertaker rested, the bells tolled their sound,
Another lost soul was six feet in the ground.
(Outro)
They'll forget us both when the years roll by
But I drew faster so postponed the day when I die
They respect the strong horse, in your time too
If you want justice, strength makes it true.
Sam Adams was a cowboy
Back in the wild west
A badass gunslinger
For hire to the biggest bidder
Often working for the law
Sometimes working for the outlaws
He did not see much difference
He took the jobs
That paid him the most
Thought that if he did not do it
Someone else would no doubt
Sam Adams thought about death
As he shot those that needed killing,
Better them than him he thought.
a silver of a gunslinger,
is a silver of gold
silver is a gunslinger silver of gold
gold is a gunslinger gold
gold is a gunslinger silver
a gunslinger gold is a gunslinger silver
a gunslinger is a fool of gold
a gunslinger is a fool of silver
fool is fool’s silver
fool is fool’s gold
fool is fool’s silver gold
fool is fool’s silver gunslinger
silver gold is silver silver
silver rule gold
silver rule silver
a gunslinger gold is his rule of gold
a gunslinger gold is his rule of silver
gold rule gold
a gunslinger rule gold
a gunslinger rule a gunslinger silver
a gunslinger rule a gunslinger gold