The Ride: A Collection of Cowboy Poems

By Keith Rounds

This is a collection of poems from the sometimes fertile mind and occasional vivid imagination of Keith Rounds spawned by experience in and yearning for the cowboy culture. They include lots of stuff about cowboys, what they did, who they are and how they fit. Some are written in the pre-automobile mode, others are about modern cowboys.

There are also sections about Rounds friends and relatives, and about his work at the Wyoming State House of Representatives. These too are in the cowboy-poetry style, that is, with rhyme and meter; without which, it aint Cowboy Poetry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 11, 2007
• ISBN: 9781469113104

Keith Rounds

Keith Rounds has been involved with Cowboy Poetry since the early 1990s, and has been performing it in several venues in Wyoming and Colorado. A love for the cowboy culture and experiences growing up in Wyoming has provided the impetus for his Cowboy Poetry. He is a Wyoming native with roots that go back to the 1840s when his fathers maternal great-grand parents settled in Southwest Wyoming. He attended schools in Granger, Green River and Laramie and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism at the University of Wyoming in 1964.

Book preview

The Ride

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’Twas a dark and stormy day, out on the range,

Where ol’ Slim was ridin’ to pick up strays.

Big tall clouds were buildin’ in that blue Wyoming sky.

They were dark on the bottom, but white way up high.

This change in the weather wasn’t lost on Slim,

What was left of those patches of blue was gettin’ mighty thin.

The clouds were getting’ closer, and blacker and thicker,

And Slim cussed himself, ’cause he knew he didn’t have his slicker.

I’m gonna get wet, sure as hell, that cowboy thought.

Then lightning flashed and thunder clapped and scared both Slim and mount.

The horse jumped and crowhopped, but Slim stuck there like glue.

Settle down you ornery cuss, I don’t need to be both wet and afoot too.

That lightning bolt and thunder clap were the first of many that day.

That flash of light and terrible sound sent that horse on his way.

Both hands on the horn, one foot in the stirrup, this ride wasn’t for show.

With one rein draggin’ ol’ Slim was hollerin’, Whoa you sonnofabitch, Whoa.

He was runnin’ like the devil, missin’ gopher holes just by inches.

That horse was tryin’ to lose Slim, saddle and cinches.

That cowboy was doin’ his best to hang on, of course.

It was a ride that could have been on Wild World of Sports.

Slim slid along that horse from ears to rump.

Afraid to stay on and too scared to jump.

They ran up hills and down the other side,

Ol’ Slim hangin’ on for a memorable ride.

With the bit in his teeth, that horse had his head.

He ran full-tilt, not lookin’ ahead.

Slim was a-cussin’ and sawin’ on the reins,

Just a little concerned that his drawers would be stained.

That horse was a runner, he just wouldn’t quit,

Haulin’ Slim through the rain, with the horn in his grip.

Out here in the West we don’t get much precip.

But when it comes all at once, you just wouldn’t believe it.

Well, this was one where the skies dumped a load.

A real ‘frog-strangler’, the kind of which stories are told.

This gullywasher had filled up the draw,

There was water and mud clear to the top of that natural trough.

Slim started thinkin’, his worst fears he dreaded.

It was soon apparent where that fool horse was headed.

Oh, please stay out of that gully, Slim begged the horse.

But the cayuse ran faster and ignored Slim, of course.

Slim knew where the bank was, but that didn’t matter.

She was runnin’ level full with mud and water.

The place where they went in was pretty deep,

And the horse walked on water for the first few feet.

Then down they went with a terrible ‘ker-splat’

And all you could see of Slim was the top of his hat.

Hell, it ain’t even Saturday and I’m takin’ a bath,

Slim thought, And if I don’t get out quick, it’ll be my last.

He quit the horse with a mighty lunge,

Popped out of the water, all soaked up like a sponge.

He swam a few strokes and soon reached the bank,

Grabbed a sagebrush and said a quick Thanks.

The horse popped up and eyeballed ol’ Slim,

Turned right around and started to swim.

Then the horse crawled out on the other side,

And Slim hunkered down to salve his wounded pride.

When the rain stopped and the sun warmed up ol’ Slim,

He swore that horse was laughin’ at him.

Then the horse left, just decided to skedaddle.

Where the cinches broke, they