the topic of conversation
always ends up the same
it seems we’ve become
the experts on
ailments, aches and pains
which type of treatment
works for what
which drugs work best
for this or that
which ones leaves
us constipated
which ones will make
us splat
the when, where and what
of pooping
some say it’s a science
some say an art
which foods
give us gas
and how bad
it makes us fart
the one subject
that is guaranteed
of this there is no doubt
the person
not at the gathering
is the one the gossip
will be about
Tag: age
Now That I’ve Reached a Certain Age (Part Two)
Now that I’ve reached a certain age
I worry that every bill
I get in the mail
could be the one
that tips the scale
that drops my accounts
below nil.
Even though
I’ve cut all the corners until
it’s now just a straight line
to the poor house
sliced the potatoes so thin
you can read the past due
notices through them
and still don’t have enough
left over to pay
attention or buy that
lottery ticket to salvation
~ Jim…
He’d wake up sorta rough around the edges
then he’d pull in his teeth from out of the glass
yawn then rub his eyes with the back of his hands
scratch his belly for a while and then his ass
After a time you would look around the house
and wonder where in the world old Jim had gone
Out the window you’d see him headed to the
outhouse wearin’ nought but red flannel long johns
He’d have a newspaper tucked under his arm
though everyone knew he couldn’t read a bit
Said he liked to wipe his ass on the headlines
they was already filled to the brim with shit
He’d make it back to the house just in time for
breakfast and barely said a word while we ate
We headed out for chores before the sun rose
cause fifteen minutes early to Jim is late
Now us boys would work until plum soaked with sweat
while Jim just shuffled around a bit you see
Guess we probably couldn’t ask for much more
seeing as how Jim was just past eighty three
Like I said before, Jim never did talk much
when he did it would be best that you take heed
Because he never put in his two cents worth
lest it was something that you was gonna need
He taught me that standing my ground for what’s right
is the way the cowboy life has always been
You should never raise your hand to a woman
and stealing from others is a definite sin
If’n you say that you’ll be doing a job
than you better do it the best that you can
Cause slacking away is the devil’s right hand
you can bet you’ll never be trusted again
Well growing up into manhood on the ranch
I owe almost everything I learned to him
Now as I ride each day out past where he lays
I stop and say a prayer for my friend Jim
~ Living the cowboy ways…
It was pretty late in September
and I was over the Billings way
I was riding fence for Freddie White
on the west end of Rockin Bar J
Well night time can fall pretty early
come along bout that time of the year
I started me up a little fire
and was cleaning up some of my gear
That’s when I heard a “Whoo-up in camp”
softly floating over the pine trees
At first I thought it was ole Freddie
come a ridin’ out to shoot the breeze
“Come on in” I yelled right back to him
My hand sittin firmly on my gun
When in rides this old bearded cowboy
Looked to be bout a hundred and one
Well he said his name to be Johnson
So with that I passed him my name too
Asked him if he’d like to sit a spell
Maybe share a little of my stew
For I had gauged him up to be a
descent and right honest man you see
Cause he seemed to hold himself just right
and by the soft way he spoke to me
So after we tossed down our bedrolls
and we had hunkered down near the flames
That’s when Johnson pulled his red eye flask
we started toasting old cowboy names
Those names like Billy Brooks, Bose Ikard
Goodnight, Conrad Kohrs and Otto Franc
Olly Loving, John Chisum and more
Each name said, we tipped the flask and drank
As all the old cowboys tend to do
we reminisced bout the olden days
about all the things we used to do
and living the good cowpuncher’s ways
How these here youngsters nowadays ain’t
got no clue bout how things used to be
When a man could go from here to there
live and ride the range completely free
Johnson had seen just fifteen summers
when he started his first cattle drive
sixty more winters have passed him by
he said his luck had kept him alive
For him riding herd out on the range
is the only life he’s ever knowed
He said he would never trade that way
for no diamonds, jewels or gold
Well just about dawn the next morning
After we shook hands and parted ways
I knew that I too would never leave
behind me, these good old cowboy days
This story, Johnson, Freddie Keys and the Rocking Bar J Ranch are all fictitious.
Sally Jo…
She was a drab forty something in fuzzy pink house slippers and tights that made her ass look like the surface of the moon. A big flesh colored moon showing all the ridges, mountains and craters. Her thin tie-dyed t-shirt was a size too small and revealed the dark nipples hiding beneath it. She lit a joint and coughed the smoke into the space that separated her from the world. A woman stuck in the 1960’s while life moved on without her.
But Phillip will forever tell the story of how, at 17, a beautiful Greek goddess brought him manhood.
Jerry Brotherton 