“O once in my saddle I used to go dashing,
O once in my saddle I used to be gay!
Belted with Colt and cartridge, spur on heel,
The tall, spare form is tricked for holiday,
With bowlegs curved in buckskins, a snake’s hide
Banding his hat, while round his leaning neck,
Half hidden by the curling, sunburnt hair,
A silken rainbow rolls to a large gold ring.
Sun browned mustache half hides his laughing mouth.
Mexican dollars shine as the rosettes
On saddle and braided bridle. Let him mount!
In his long stirrups with what ease he takes
The pony’s motion, while it moves at speed
Snatches the trailing lariat!
Of his skill
To rope and ride he is silent, and his gun
Stays in his belt till needed. He can swear,
Can lose unruffled six months’ pay at cards,
Bestow in nameless bounty his last cent,
And spite of wind, and dust, and Texas steers,
And undiluted whiskey, still can sing
In the night wind the longhorn’s lullaby.
By innate force of spirit he is kin
To old adventurers. While trick, and trade,
And blue-sky lots made fat the souls and speech
Of men, this romantic rebel, sick of smugness
And cheatery, let’ his birthright blessing go,
Wild for a free life, the pony, and the range.
He might have been conductor,-congressman
With a post-office named after him; he is
Unstable as water, loyal to the death,
A creature of impulse, and he still can sing;
Not quite a grown-up spite of forty years.
(Edwin Ford Piper)”
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Based on Topics: Man Poems, Life Poems, Night Poems, Death & Dying Poems, Soul Poems, Water Poems, Hair Poems, Business & Commerce Poems, Rebellion Poems, Loyalty PoemsBased on Keywords: mexican, tricked, mustache, adventurers, stirrups, browned, cartridge, rosettes, post-office, banding, undiluted