Best Whiskered Poems
GRAY WHISKERED LION
PROUDLY STRUTS ACROSS HOT SAND
WISDOM ON THE WIND
He stood there in the streetlight looking somber,
I didn't know whether to trust him or to run;
his eerie shadow stretched long on the pavement
I saw beneath his duster the glint of a gun.
The night air held a chill upon the breeze,
the blood within my veins came close to jell;
but warmth began to flow as his lips parted
and as he spoke I fell under his spell.
He told me he was a wanted man out west,
close to Pima County he was framed.
He said, "I shot a man in self defense,
but gunned him down in cold blood, the sheriff claimed."
"Can you find it in your heart to help me out, Mam?
I need a place to stay to hide away,
I promise you I'll hit the road tomorrow
before the sunrise greets another day."
I looked into his whiskered face and stuttered,
"Just so happens there's a place out back,
at the edge of the field behind my house.
It's nothing but a tidy little shack."
He said, "That be fine, Mam, thank you kindly."
He jumped in back of my old Ford pickup truck.
I dropped him off at the shack and headed home
but I hollered back at him and wished him luck.
Because I figured that's the last time I'd see him
and I was right because no sign of him by dawn;
not a ruffled sheet left of his presence,
like a dream he was there and now was gone.
Fifteen years had passed before I knew it
since the whiskered stranger in the night,
I wondered if he might've been a phantom
and if that sheriff shot him in his last gunfight.
August 7, 2013
Copyright © 2013 H. L. Smith
straight talkin’ whiskered man
one stop 33
i walked into the bar room
just to hear the sound
pulled way back on the wooden stool
and set my body down
spilled vodka in my orange juice
‘twas flavor for my soul
an’ a stranger sat down next to me
an’ said, “man, your troubles show.”
he was a straight talkin’ whiskered man
never said his name
but he set me up with another round
of liquid lovin’ sane
he pulled a guitar from the side of him
and laid his troubles down
as he sang old songs
of love gone wrong
on th’ streets of every town
we took the rails through chicago
and on up to smokey mount
from the eastern coast
to the western shore
was more stops than i could count
and then at last he looked at me
and said, “friend, where have you been?”
i looked at him
through a wasted mind
and wanted to ask him ‘when’?
but i knew it didn’t matter
‘cause my days were all the same
countin’ th’ thick glass bottles
of my liquid lovin’ sane
he sang a song i’d never known
but now i know it well
‘cause it was my path to the outer rim
of my liquid lovin’ hell
he said, “don’t you count on nobody
‘cause nobody knows your name
an’ if you smile and walk away from these bar room doors
that’s how it will remain
always remember who you are
and never forget where you’ve been
so when the mirror takes a close up shot
it will reflect to you a friend”
well, i smiled at him as he walked away
leaving black coffee in front of me
and tears that ran across my mind
made it so easy for me to see
i’d met a man who had an outstretched hand
like the man from galilee
who walked from shore to distant shore
jus’ settin’ broken people free
he was a straight talkin’ whiskered man
who never said his name
but he set me up with another round
that put me right back in th’ game…
so i sang. "jesus, you walked on th' water
an' lord, you healed th' blind
an' now i will never walk alone,
thanks for bein' a friend of mine."
© tolbert
Whiskered wonders of the wild west of mine,
Wooly and whimsical, with whiskers so fine
Rode on a stagecoach not recognizing its line
Ended up in a Kansas town named Valentine.
Where tornadoes are plentiful and come a lot.
Their kibble blew away with their cooking pot.
Their catnip treats disappeared into the night.
Kansas is bad, one kitten said. It does not feel right!
The stagecoach driver dropped them off in Iow-AY.
You might have yourself a much better stay.
Best of all, the corn is a good place to hide for a stray.
He gave them a wave and turned back to Santa Fe.
Dazzled by the lighting
of his fancy gaze his
lips blew peace.
i could feel the depth of
his cherry creek eyes with
warm embrace of visible absence.
a review of every word said and
how secured it made me feel.
i know there's no honesty
in a bearded man but I wanna
lay my nest in his palms.
My head feels too clouded to voice the intensity of our match.
look me blue from the
soul and let's cherish
the memories I withhold.
I want to see you fall in love with me too,
I'm too good to be true, I hear I'm the 9th wonder.
this night was made and you were in it.
those words I brewed were a hint to draw closer, I usually say them to ward off people with no yearn for my cute drizzles.
you seemed like a prince with a love for challenge, so i kissed you hoping you'll wake me up from my charade of a sleep.