Best John Wayne Poems
“Cowboys” , big John Wayne starred.
Cowhands abandon him.
Call, joining the Goldrush.
Could greenhorn kids succeed.
Camp cook and chuck wagon,
Complete the trail crew drive.
Cow punching green schoolboys
Called on to claim their jobs.
Cimarron, the oldest,
Capricious, turned away.
Cow punching, green schoolboys
Combating bucking horse,
Caught on to rope, brand, herd
Cattle, and cow-horses.
Cattle drive is ready.
Cimarron follows close.
Cattle-rustlers kill Will,
Corralling all his herd.
Cow punching green schoolboys
Caught and killed the rustlers.
Complete the cattle-drive.
Cattle sold, gravestone bought.
Carved, “ Beloved Husband and Father”
8/22/2016
Not for contest:
Pleiades C
22 lines, 6 syllable each line
17th line 9 syllables
The Cowboys is a 1972 American western film starring John Wayne,
John Wayne nickname Duke
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cowboys
using;
http://www.howmanysyllables.com/poem_syllable_counter_workshop/index
His last days
in his dreams
in Jamaica mon
The capital Kingston
He prayed to the heavens
Gods only laughed
in the Caribbean waves
as this small minded
prang called
the pond of frogs
glorious
I loved you John Wayne!
I wished you were my father
or maybe an older brother
who’d tutor me to be tough
when manners weren’t enough
and toughness was needed
that civility be heeded
and not to brag or complain.
O I loved you John Wayne!
As soon as I was old enough
to earn the price of admission
I saw your films in succession
at the first run houses down
in the big deal part of town
and enshrined each one on a list
taped to my bedside wall
and read about the ones I’d missed.
Shucks, I loved you most of all!
Fort Apache and Red River
took pride of place on the page;
they’d eaten up my weekly wage.
I missed the Yellow Ribbon;
I hoped I’d be forgiven.
At the Rio and the Broad
(in a dicey neighborhood)
I atoned with films you’d done
before I was even born.
Western after Western
and tales of oil and whiskey
and scheming ladies, O so risky!
I hoped I’d be excused
when I compromised my muse
by adding well-built gals
to Duke and all his pals.
Montez, Russell, and Lake
made my hormones quake.
O I loved you, John Wayne.
I could feel your bashful pain
When the pretty lady roped you
and hat in hand you’d bow,
the furrow deepening on your brow,
and utter monosyllables plus “Ma’am,”
no longer a ram, more like a lamb.
O I shared you pain, John Wayne!
And still I loved you John Wayne,
your true grit and donnybrook,
your menacing brow, the look
that said, “Enough, my friend.
“This bull is going to end!”
You swaggered? (not quite it--
as if your boots didn’t quite fit?)
You took him by the horns and shook;
Plomp! Down went the snook!
How I loved you, John Wayne!
And I love you still when again I see
the doughty Duke on my smart TV
as much as Papa’s lone old man,
with fish chewed down to the bone
loved Joltin’ Joe Dimaggio
when the Clipper’s legs began to go
and he was hobbled by his heel.
John Wayne, you were the real deal.
Written April 14, 2017
It's easy to fall in love
Even easier to break apart
I've been trying for six long years
To mend this broken heart
You used to talk to me so sweet
My biggest fan in the bleacher seats
From the rose bush to the baseball bat
Why'd you have to go and be like that
Why don't you just be like John Wayne
Why'd you go and have to die
Why don't you just be like John Wayne
Even he cried sometimes
Life never looked so bleak
Than the day you left me
It's easy to forgive sometimes
But this ain't one of those times
Sticks and stones may break my bones
Glass houses are all I've known
From the salt shaker to the baseball bat
Why'd you have to go and be like that
Why don't you just be like John Wayne
Why'd you go and have to die
Why don't you just be like John Wayne
Even he cried sometimes
John Wayne would not entertain
self-doubt or indecision
jumped in again and again
with full blown tunnel vision
pure bravado does not stop
mortality's sure advance
nothing can give assurance
we will have that one last dance
not every situation
is cause to pose scream and shout
will be no acclimation
if we can't find our way out
lies turn into bolder lies
words sole purpose is deceit
no use trying to disguise
sometimes we'll take a backseat
unease growing faster now
leering faces seem stranger
no one going to ask how
words led to this much danger
not an outstanding question
of what might make it alright
flat out wrong situation
when lives are taken for spite
cannot simply turn and run
at this point of no return
too much cannot be undone
to dodge permanent downturn
this world's not all black and white
except in minds which are closed
we've all become wrapped too tight
in myths long ago composed
John Wayne would stick to his guns
in those technicolor dreams
but we're the actual ones
coming apart at the seams
Elegy Poem
The day I had seen your first movie
I was always interjecting and happy
I would always pull out my toy guns and start to act like you
I remember watching every single one of your movies
That was until JUne 11, 1979 when you went by by
Now I can’t watch any new movies of yours
That is no bueno
Why did you have to die
We had some good times
Especially watching my favorite movie of yours Cowboys
John Wayne
Gained his fame
For riding on a horse
Of course
Celebrity or a Famous Person Clerihew Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Tania Kitchin
3/29/19
wind is coming in
sun is just showing
horses are watered
fire is glowing
movement is starting
the camp is awake
cookie is working
there's breakfast to make
no fancy croissants
or drinks laced with toffee
this is good solid food
and strong cowboy coffee
it gets it's job done
it ain't always so nice
later on in the day
it gets served by the slice
mud, java, joe
it's got lots of names
and at each cowboy camp
it still tastes the same
grounds at the bottom
thick as coal tar
without cowboy coffee
you will not go far
eggs, beans and bacon
and bread texas thick
to wipe up what's left
and get every lick
here out on the trail
you won't find any toffee
we eat solid grub
and we drink cowboy coffee
Big John Wayne
He stands out like a leader
As he walks on down the street
He gets into so many fights
But never will be beat
Kick him and punch him
And he will take the pain
He will win out in the end
My hero, Big John Wayne
The fastest with a pistol
With a rifle there’s none better
Where he has a lady friend
Then it’s best to not upset her
He’ll ride the wild stallion
And he will make it tame
All along the Rio Grande
My hero, Big John Wayne
If you are a bad guy
Then you’d better leave his town
Never try the double cross
Cos he will hunt you down
He has got the brawn to fight
And he’s also got the brain
That’s why he never loses
My hero, Big John Wayne
My favourite movie star
is John Wayne.
Shoot him or stab him,
he'll never complain.
I watch his movies
over and over.
Whether sheriff, cattle baron
or just a drover.
He is what every man
should be,
tall and strong,
truthful and free.
He always knows
just what to say,
what to do,
and who must pay.
So totally different
from the men I've known
who if they get a sniffle
are in bed, prone.
The men I've known
are not like he.
They're scared of horses
and scared of me.
I really suppose
I'm single because
no man fascinates me
like John Wayne does.
EINSTEIN’S DREARY
People are always asking why
Why do you yearn to set afire the sky?
They ask my empty voice for a rapid reply
Yet they might as well ask me “why I can’t fly?
In the center of every hollow sentence is something they imply
And after all these years they still ask why I like to get high
It’s a simple equation much like two plus two equals four
And I like taking drugs because too many people are a bore
They either are bores, whores and all cause me to snore
They all know facts and figures but I know far more
For instance I know that if a person says “I’ve never cried” it’s a lie
And “no” despite your inane question I cannot fly
So stop asking me for advice, solutions or the key to everlasting love
That’s a question you must deliver to someone above
Einstein’s up there and can spoon-feed you the answers you require
While all I yearn to do is set the god-damned sky on fire
© 2011.…Phreepoetree
Marion Robert Morrison
his voice couldn’t be confused with Roy Orbison
but he really gained his fame
when he became known as John Wayne
John Wayne was born in a tiny house in a teeny Iowa town.
We love claiming him, because Iowans do not usually leave Iowa.
Certainly do not become bigger-than-life cowboy movie stars!
But he did, and we adored him. I still do in many ways.
our hero who never served.
Even though you did me wrong, I've written a few poems about you.
You came in my house and stole some pills, that was a bad thing to do.
You also borrowed some money but didn't repay what you owed.
Sadly, you can't celebrate this Christmas because you died half a year ago.
This will be the first Christmas since 1969 that you're not alive.
You died six months ago today, you weren't able to survive.
You had a heart murmur but half a year ago, your heart stopped beating.
When it came to death, it was something you had no chance of defeating.
[Dedicated to John W. Brown (1969-2019) who died on June 3, 2019.]
Just one month ago, you were walking around.
But now you're dead and buried in the ground.
So much can change in just the blink of an eye.
You went too soon, forty-eight was too young to die.
Forty years ago in 1979, we became friends.
I wish that your life hadn't come to an end.
On the 3rd day of June, you took your final breath.
You overdosed on drugs and it caused your death.
Because you were a drug user, you didn't survive.
Drugs eventually kill, that's why you're no longer alive.
[Dedicated to John W. Brown (1970-2019) who died on June 3, 2019.]