Wild West ‘66

Gunsmoke lived beyond my door
When the stampede came to town
The shop fronts all looked like the wild west
And the Indians were always real enough.

My dad and Chief Irvin Harry were good friends
And it shaped his views from that time on;
No shoot outs happened here.

The town was named for another chief
Whose name the white folk couldn‘t say,
So they called him William;
It was close enough, and gave the lake his name.

The air shimmered with
The heat of July and the town swelled,
Multiplying over and over in anticipation
Of the rodeo and
The airstreams glowed like UFO‘s,
So many filled the fields.
Real cowboys rode through town
Ready to entertain. Cows roamed free
And tumbleweeds cavorted with the dust devils
In the shadow of Fox Mountain, where I shot my first grouse with grandpa.

Everybody knew everybody then
And surnames meant everything.
Everything was smaller then; you
Could count to ten and that was the edge of town,
As far as the avenues went. Everything,
But the stampede. We all knew
We were the second largest in the world.
Not bad for a town of 2,000.

When we moved on, the town did too
Growing and growing until it was
The second largest in the north of B.C.

Nobody knows the last names any more
The cattle are all penned up
And the Indians all look like white people.

Until the stampede comes to town...

Bruce Herbert Fader 03-16-16:54

I like this one Bruce, a good read throughout. I especially like these lines:

Everybody knew everybody then
And surnames meant everything.


Les

Thanks Les. I wrote another poem a long, long time past with a Gunsmoke reference in it, but for the life of me I cannot recall the title, or even if it is here.

By the way I have many Mulers on my facebook and am trying to flog them into returning, Lady of the Night, Sargirl, Lizzie, Mitts, JustJack, UnbiddenAngel, Syn, Illudiumphosdex, QueenB, and many more. Might liven up the joint a little if even half show back up.

Fond memories...recalled with just the right touch of poignancy. Nice.

Joe

PS: Keep on hounding the emulers; it's nice to see you and Gwydion return along with Angels Fear and Larkinabout.

Any word from JP and Terry?

Les

I have contact with both of them, Les, so I will see what I can do.

Joe, thank-you. I will be sure to.

GREAT to be back. It was a waste of about 8-9 years. Thanks to Les for keeping the faith. It was difficult to see a place I had come to love disintegrate. Lost touch with good friends. Hope to see them back.
Don't dwell on the past
Don't obsess about the future
Enjoy the now

Many thanks Les

Completely concur, Jack.

Les and Peter both deserve our thanks for hanging in there and being so patient.

Jack,, et al: I once wrote a short story I titled "The Eternal Present". I've thought of the title often, (not so much the content). Goes along with your admonition. Carpe Diem