Good-bye, Old Cowboy, Good-bye

Tonight one more lonesome old cowboy has followed Death down the long trail.
He was tired.  He felt wasted and weary.  He had heard his last lone coyote's wail.
So when Death came with soft invitation to go where he never had been,
The old cowboy said, "Sure!  I'll go with you to the sunlight beyond that last bend."

He had ridden long trails on his pony.  He had toiled and struggled and done.
His hands were all gnarled and wrinkled, and his eyes dimmed with each setting sun.
His mind still held savvy and sharpness, but his frame was all wizened and bent,
For his strength crept away like a shadow, and pain followed wherever he went.

He had once been a stalwart young rider, with muscles so supple and lean,
Who sang as he gathered the cattle and pushed then into valleys green.
He'd spent lots of time in the mountains, moving herds through the aspen and spruce
To the parks and the flat, grassy meadows, where cows grazed while their babies ran loose.
He had paused in his early young manhood, and had courted and won a dear wife.
His children had given him pleasure, and brought purpose into his life.
And always, he worked as a cowboy who had deep respect for the land.
Understanding the secrets of nature, he had reigned with a strong, gentle hand.

His throne was a worn leather saddle.  His Kingdom, what he could survey.
His pay, little more than a living, and a smile at the end of the day.
By the world's standards, poor; never wealthy...except in his number of friends,
Who grieve at the news of his passing down the trail to where peace never ends.

I feel sure as he entered the portal that leads on to the last Great Divide,
He caught up with his friends and his loved ones who preceded him on his last ride.
Sweet release from all pain and sad partings.  Only memories of days now gone past.
And there must have been joy on their faces as they welcomed him homeward at last.

copyright  Nona Kelley Carver
used by permission

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