With ten more miles of wire,
my horse wants to turn back
There’s dark clouds over the mountain,
just a small tent in my sack
The fence line sits all busted,
from two bulls that went astray
They both missed being neutered,
last year on roundup day
My hands are cold and blistered,
that salve jar all but gone
Two wolves begin to howling,
that lonesome prairie song
The storm clouds all have thickened,
light pulls its covers back
Just one more night on the western slope
—with eight miles left to track
‘From The ‘Searching For Crazy Horse Collection’
‘Read In Elko Nevada Years Ago’
My Heart Revived
Reconnecting with the melody,
my life fell into place
Those pieces that were missing,
back home—a saving grace
That spot inside most empty,
the one I tried to hide
Music filled above the rim,
with joy—my heart revived
(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2018)
Hope Never Rests
While looking for a bridge
to cross over tonight
Connecting time honored values
to internet blight
I thought and I pondered,
as I surfed on the net
But the things that it offered
were sadly abject
Where is the laughter,
the thrill of the chase
Through forest and meadow,
with all of your mates
Gone is the connection,
looking eye into eye
Replaced with an I-pad,
and virtual lies
The children are programmed,
their bits and their bytes
With screens the new playgrounds,
their couches—their life
Where all of this leads,
I’m fearful to know
As I look for that bridge,
where our youth can still go
To return from the chaos,
to a welcoming time
Where friendships were made,
in a tree you just climbed
But the harder I search,
the dimmer it gets
Quicksand reinvented,
their minds it besets
Though cards stack against me,
I remain on my quest
The young are still worth it
—and hope never rests
(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2017)