My Old Hat
I've got this old cowboy hat
It's my favorite one to wear,
It's about the only thing I own
That I'm not willing to share;
Now to see it
May not turn your eye,
But, we've been through a heap together
This ol' hat and I;
We've fanned our share of hot summer days
Mighty dry and tough,
And held tight on many a cold winters night
More than just a bit frosty and rough;
We've rode through Panhandle sandstorms
And Rocky mountain blizzards,
Together we've swallowed 'nuff sand and sleet
To plug even Paul Bunyan's gizzard!
We've hazed the edge off buckin' broncs in Montana snow
And wild mustangs in the desert heat,
Still no matter if it's 100 above or 20 below
We'll stick it out and have 'em all beat.
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poem by Smoky Hoss
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It Just Won't Stop Snowing-Therefore I'm Going!
It snowed today,
And it forgot to stop -
It snowed yesterday,
And it forgot to stop -
It has snowed for a month prior to all that,
And - you guessed it - It forgot to stop -
Can you figure out what the forecast predicts?
Yup. Snow tomorrow - non-stop.
I just got in my old '78 truck,
Gassed it up;
Took off driving south -
And ya know what?
Yup!
I forgot to stop -
That is until I hit
The Texas border!
I believe I'll just stay here quite a spell,
The weather looks so darn swell!
Not a flake in sight,
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poem by Smoky Hoss
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Sunset Thoughts
The sun sets slow to the West
The routine evening rest.
I quietly sit and watch
Feeling somewhat tranquil, yet melancholy -
I think of the great pleasure
That this moment is.....
And wonder why,
So few are -
Opaque clouds scattered, streak the salient sky
Like living lines
On an intent artist's brush,
The blue and the gray overhead
Are now at peace
Above the country, so free.....
Orange, yellow, purple, and red
Blaze, and burn through the horizon
Into the black-burnt transcendent treeline
Just below the setting sun, saying
'Goodnight, my sweet children' -
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poem by Smoky Hoss
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The Friendly Light of a Campfire
A glimmer of light burning in the wilderness
Occasionally comes 'round to give rest
Lingering about camps like an old Indian story,
Those tales of ancient warriors
Who in nature always found
Great wonder and captivating glory.
No dark can break it
No storm blow it away
Like a friendly old dog from neighboring tribes,
It visits with smiles of joy
Glowing in the attention
In which it abides.
It eases the wild fears
Of presumed dark, prowling grizzly bears;
And softly lulls to sleep
Those whose company it does keep.
It speaks so gentle and delicate
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poem by Smoky Hoss
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Arizona / Utah Land
I have seen the wonder of wilderness
The great beauty of the West,
I have trod the seductive sands
And crawled upon the redemptive red rocks,
I've serenely sat for hours in the Juniper shade
Ruminating the writings of Terry Tempest Williams,
I've felt my soul stir to a sail
And fly higher than an eagle can rise,
I've gazed up to the munificent moon watching
And listened down to the canyon river singing,
All the while feeling the warm wind pass by
Caressing my skin with passion
As the star-glittered pinyon pines dance
And the owl scans the pumas who softly listen.......
1,000 years, and many more uncounted
All alive in this moment, here with me
Alone in and of and above this canyon country.
- I am the only one here. -
Though countless ancient ages past
Can forever be sensed; kindred spirits understand,
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poem by Smoky Hoss
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Murder In The Old Forest
As I drove along
One day, singing a merry song
A sight I saw
As a grand old tree did fall,
Causing my joy to cease
At this view of disgrace
The sight by this road
Was a wearisome load,
For timber men did slay
In the usual way;
The beginnings again
Of another arrogant subdivision,
All oh so perfectly planned
Without even one dropp of spiritual consideration;
Murder here was commited in the wise old woods
By the avarice of man
At the blade of an axe - all just to acquire the lucrative goods;
What once was pure and alive
Filled with wonder, life to provide,
Has now been killed by a fall
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poem by Smoky Hoss
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Night Blues
Blue whinning guitars
Greet shimmering stars-
It's mercy the night brings
To forget the day, in the evening blues I sing-
Arise distant and dark moon
Open despairs tomb-
Melancholy, like water passes through me
I am the rough and windy sea-
The night's a gutter
Gathering and consuming each days clutter-
It's there alone in the dark
Things so easily come apart-
Drenched in the blues
While trying to muse-
Two lives I live
The night takes, what the life of day gives-
It's humanities eternal war...
Ravaged to the core-
Evil vs. good... and if you ever face it,
You'll be so misunderstood-
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poem by Smoky Hoss
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Go West
The sun dances on the horizon
With the morning wind,
Up, to rise alive
And go west, once again.
Why each day
Does the sun go west?
Perhaps with age
It has found which way is best.
Or, then again
Maybe it's just luck to go that way,
Over and over
Day upon day.
No matter the reason
I must confess,
Of the way in which it goes
I am most sincerely jealous.
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poem by Smoky Hoss
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Descry
I stood in a grand wood alone
whispering to God upon his throne:
' Is it truly true
nothing is more powerful
than magnificent You? '
Then, I stood by the great ocean
and whispered to God:
'Can You hear me above the roar?
How will You find me,
my footprints have washed away all along the shore? '
Finally, I stood upon the highest mountain top
and whispered to God:
'Can you see me now,
the mere speck that I am,
even just a glimpse, somehow? '
No reply came.
Not in words
I could hear.
No powerful voice
loud and clear.
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poem by Smoky Hoss
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Sweetest Days Ever Known
Sitting in McDonald's
Watching my youngest / last
Frolic in the 'playland'.
I consume coffee, she drinks in simple joy.
Knowing full well
How so soon and suddenly
These days will sadly be all through;
I've seen the days
Quickly come and go,
I see adulthood, like a lion, charging us...
A repeat of when my first / oldest
Stopped playing in those children's
Care-free days and ways.
- Though I must confess
Whenever she still calls me 'daddy'
My heart says a thank you to God.
(Perhaps now, in some sense,
I begin to see, to understand
How He feels toward us.)
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poem by Smoky Hoss
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