Once on a time the plain with breeze and sun
On wild brown herds a-grazing where the trails
Wind to the living water; once is done,-
Once is the chosen word of old wives’ tales.
The keen-faced Indian, arrow to bent bow,
Steers on the hounding pony with his knees,
Outriding some huge thundering buffalo
That he may couch on robe, and feast at ease.
With needlegun the sportsman, jaunty, brisk,
Three before breakfast slaughters; lets them lie;
Writes in his diary. Still the yearlings frisk
As to the waterholes the herds roll by.
The buffalo skinner stacks the reeking pelt;
One stench of rotting carcass drowns the plain;
Buzzard and coyote, ant and fly have smelt
The offence, but all their scavengery is vain
To sweeten any breeze. The hireling skins
Fresh kill and noisome carrion in his greed,
Glutting, the while, his fancy on the sins
His dirty pay in his cheap soul may breed.
Once on a time the rival bulls did roar
Their fighting challenge; once – O nevermore!
(Edwin Ford Piper)
More Poetry from Edwin Ford Piper:
Edwin Ford Piper Poems based on Topics: Water, Soul, Sin, Time, Greed- Bindlestiff (Edwin Ford Piper Poems)
- The Church (Edwin Ford Piper Poems)
- Barbed Wire (Edwin Ford Piper Poems)
- The Grasshoppers (Edwin Ford Piper Poems)
- The Sod House (Edwin Ford Piper Poems)
- The Road And Path (Edwin Ford Piper Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Time Poems, Soul Poems, Water Poems, Sin Poems, Greed PoemsBased on Keywords: buzzard, noisome, slaughters, frisk, hireling, coyote, sportsman, diary, jaunty, hounding, skinner