I.
Luther Deits was a good friend of whiskey,
not fond of cutting herds or pushing plows,
a young buck full of juice, barely twenty,
he lived only for the thrill of the now.
His home, a town in the Texas panhandle,
not that far away from his father’s spread,
he’d left the ranch at sixteen, taken to riding
with a crew that just might leave you dead.
Though the sheriff hadn’t pinned crimes on them,
all the town knew that they were no good,
they often say Luther was bound for the rope,
and wouldn’t stop himself even if he could.
But Luther paid little mind to all that talk,
he was a man bound to live his own life,
even sweet-talked a pretty, Irish waitress
into agreeing to become his wife.
She was an orphan, hard up for cold cash,
and Luther always seemed to have the gold,
she stayed in his shack, raising their small boy,
while out through the prairie Luther rode.
Luther, of course, saw no problems in this,
to him she was just a nice poke when home,
not that he didn’t taste his share of whores,
when he and the gang went out to roam.
But all of this life came crashing on down
on one cool, clear, late September day,
at the saloon Luther laid with a girl,
but in his drunkenness forgot to pay.
When the owner cried out,”Hey, you damn fool!
Get back in here and give me my cash!\"
Luther pulled his guns, shot up the windows,
they shattered ’cross the floor with a crash.
The sheriff ran over, saw the bad scene,
said,”That’s destruction of property!
And shooting off guns in a public place,
you can bet that’s disturbing the peace!”
Come trial day nobody stood for Luther,
hiss ‘gang’ was absent, nowhere to be found,
he was found guilyt, sentenced to four years
of hard labor in hot, desert grounds.
And while prison just hardens some criminals,
on Luther it had the counter effect,
he soon learned that the price of law-breaking
was smashing rocks with hot sun on your neck.
Of course the labor wasn’t the worst of it,
that he saw in the inmate’s cold eyes,
they were the type of men who’d kill you
over a simple dispute playing dice.
Surrounded by the worst in all of the west,
Luther finally saw the hard truth of life:
Better to toil and earn a fair coin,
then have to watch your back every night.
II.
When his term ended, Luther was shocked
Tt see his father waiting outside the jail,
“We have to get going,”he said gruffly,
motioning Luther to a mustang, pale.
As they began the long ride to the ranch,
his father asked,”Are you all done with that stuff?
’Cause there’s problems at home, even for a man
setting things right is gonna’ be tough.\"
Luther just nodded to show he had changed,
his father said,”Good, because there is more.
Your boy is living now with me and your ma,
and your poor while, Shelley, works as a whore.
“And if you want get paid chasin’ my cows,
you will go and clean up this big mess,
and I’m telling you now, prices, they are down,
so your pay will not be among the best.”
When they reached the ranch Luther did see
his son Aaron, now aged to five years,
the boy didn’t know him, ran for his grandma,
buried his face in her arms to hide fear.
Luther did nothing, what could he do?
His own child did not know his face,
so he went to the bunkhouse, planning his moves,
tomorrow would be one hell of a day.
Come the morning he rode down into town,
attracting stares from various town folk,
they said not a word, and he kept focused,
on the saloon, where lay all his hopes.
As he paced in the owner went stiff,
remembering the last time they had met,
He said,”You best no be looking for trouble,”
then cradled his shot-gun as a threat.
Luther said,”No, I am here for my wife.
In which room upstairs will I find her?”
The owner said,”Now wait, she’s under contract!
And I won’t give up what that girl earns!”
Luther darkened, tapped the but on his gun,
Said,”But did her husband agree to it too?
You know what the law says about such things,
and what judges think of pimps like you.”
The owner growled,”Third door on the left,
Take the slut and don’t ever come back!”
Luther paced upstairs, his breath coming quick,
and gave the thin, wooden door a hard rap.
It opened wide revealing a man,
fumbling to undo his waistcoat,
one look at Luther he buttoned it back up,
and out the door quickly did he bolt.
From behind a screen a woman emerged,
the fire-haired beauty he’d once wed,
She came out crooning,”If you’re ready now,
Please lay yourself down on the bed—”
Her words chocked off at the sight of him,
Luther bit down the fury that he felt,
said,”Shelly, I’m back. Pack up your things,
I’m not leaving you here in this hell.”
III.
Frozen in place, the only thing she could say,
“I-I didn’t know that you’d been released!”
He said,”Well I have, and I am well aware,
that all of this happened because of me.
“But you are my wife, and I made a vow,
even though I was a half-drunk young lout,
you belong by my side, and I by yours,
the rest of it we’ll somehow figure out.”
She still looked pale, and shook her head,
saying,”I don’t think you know what you ask.”
She ducked to a side room, and then returned,
with a cute, bundled-up, sleeping lass.
Luther looked at the child, not even two,
and felt his soul surge hot with fire,
then forced it all back, he’d been gone four years,
and in this place, he knew what transpired.
He looked at the girl, caressed her forehead,
said,”She mustn’t know how she came to this world.
From this day forward, she is my daughter,
my little one, my own precious pearl.”
At these words tears streamed from Shelly’s eyes,
she nodded, then quickly packed up her things,
as they strode outside he looked at her clothes,
said,”We better go buy you nicer things.”
Weeks went by, they lived on his dad’s ranch,
Luther riding every day with the herds,
when out one day, a rider came to him,
said some old friends of his wanted a ‘word.’
Luther rode in, both his pistols cocked,
and saw six mounted men by the gate,
Two he didn’t know, the other four he did,
especially his old pard, Thevin’ Nate.
Nate smiled as he rode up on his pale mount,
said,”My friend it has been a long time.”
Luther said,”Yes, and it would be much better
If all of you just kept on riding by.”
Nate looked shocked, then shook his head,
“Now where’s the Luther that I used to know?\"
Luther said,”He died back in state prison,
and the man who remains is telling you to go!”
Now Nate’s anger came to his dirty face,
and his hand slipped low towards his piece,
Luther said,”Nate, you know you’re too slow,
do you want to die just to get at me?”
The big man hesitated, then saw the cowboys
of the ranch sidling closer to them,
He roared,”Come on, boys. He ain’t worth the lead!”
Then trotted out, followed by the gang.
That was the last Luther ever saw of them,
two months later all six were shot down,
when they tried to rob an army payroll,
the boys-in-blue put them in the ground.
Luther remained many years on that ranch,
doubled its size and trebled the herd,
and neither he, his wife, nor his twelve kids
heard the townsfolk speak an unkind word.
From that day, and for the rest of his days,
many folks would go ride for his brand,
they all did agree, that loud, drunken fool,
had grown into one hell of a man.