CODY'S WILD WEST SHOW    
(Circa 1875)
The storm sure ripped the ranch apart.
The cattle's God knows where.
The windmill's broke. The gate is down.
The line camp needs repair.
There's fixin' up that's needed...
but the fixin' up kin wait.
The windmill ain't goin' nowhere,
and there's no legs on the gate.
I caught the stage for Denver
with some cowboys that I know;
and all of us had tickets
to Cody's Wild West Show.

Buffalo Bill Cody's
famous Wild West Show...
well-known folk were in it...
some names I'd guess you'd know.
That Oakley gal named Annie...
she was good as some folk claim.
Still, I 'd bet I could out-shoot her,
though I ain't got Annie's fame.
And I wouldn't sell no tickets.
I'm beat-up, scarred and old.
My face would skeer a coyote off-
or so I once was told.

Fact is, I've been punchin' cows
for fifty years or more;
and the show, it showed me nothin'
that I hadn't seen before.
But they made it seem romantic,
like some wide-eyed, school boy's dream.
But the handsome scene they painted,
ain't all that it might seem.

They didn't show no cowhands
a' herdin' in the snow;
or freezin' off their kiesters
when it's forty-plus below.
And for sure they didn't show 'em
sacked out in mud and rain;
or tendin' foot-sore cattle
ravaged on the plain;
or herdin cattle weeks on end
in sweat-soaked, dust caked shirt,
across some sun-baked nightmare
while eatin' clouds a'dirt;
or drinkin' muddy water
from their cattle's cruddy tracks;
or mendin', like I gotta do,
 some windmill, gate or shack.

There's just a lotta hardships
that they left out of that play.
I know that in the real world
the skies are often gray.
Romantic? I don't think so.
Most often, times are lean.
A cowboy's life is rugged
and it's often harsh and mean.
I've had my share of pleasure-
but as often, I've known pain...
and yet with all the heartaches,
I'd do it all again.

I'll go back home..fix up the ranch..
and think about the show.
There's much about the cowboy life
the  crowd will never know.
It aint one bit romantic...
at least, it's not to me-
but what it is is better!
What it is is FREE!
A cowboy's like a stallion
that's wild, as wild can be.
His life's a rough and tough one...
but he's out there runnin' free!

by Bette Wolf Duncan
copyright©2001


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