For the Renaissance cowboys out there . . .
My Honey
“I loved you more than I ever loved anything,”
Said the old cowboy with a tear in his eye,
“And now all I can do is curse at the moon
And ask why, oh why, did you have to die?”
“We traveled from Galveston to Abilene,
We conquered the Great Desert to the west,
We crossed the Divide more times than I can count,
There was never a river we couldn’t best.”
“I remember the trip south to Santa Fe,
When we outran that Indian war band,
We gave ‘em our dust and lived to tell the tale . . .
My God, you were full of sand!”
Then there was the ride up to Oregon
Carrying Ma’s letter to Uncle Ben.
We did a hundred miles in a single day
And you were ready to go again!”
“And now you lie there cold and still
And it was my hand that laid you low.
A rocky trail, a rattlesnake . . .
Oh, my little friend, I loved you so!”
“The only light in this dark place
Is that you won’t be alone for long:
‘Cause when you fell, I followed you,
And I hit the ground all wrong.
“My back is broke, my shoulder sprung,
I’ll die pretty soon without a fire,
I always said we’d ride to Hell together
I guess God didn’t want to make me a liar.”
“I loved you more than I ever loved anything,
More than women, whiskey, more than money,
So why, oh why, did you have to die,
My game little mustang, my Honey.”
Stephen Sanders
©2008
