FOLK COLLECTION 11: The Skaggs Foundation Cowboy Poetry Collection

Fenced Trails

FC 11 B-24

26

Bruce Brockett

Harry Atchison

Another man's gone from the bunch on the range.

death, Great Divide, Harry Atchison, accidental death, operation, pain, anesthetic, hospital

Fenced Trails

FC 11 B-24

27

Bruce Brockett

The Cowboy's Hope

When the last bit of range is fenced up and gone.

progress, honyok, fences

Fenced Trails

FC 11 B-24

29

Bruce Brockett

Old Friends

I watched two wore out ponies.

horses, past, useless, put at rest,, work, toil, yesteryears, useful, strong, feeling, care, old-age, friendship, strength

Fenced Trails

FC 11 B-24

31

Bruce Brockett

The Ring-Tailed Tooter

"I'm a ring-tailed tooter," yelled Dusty Ben.

gun, shooting, show off, braggart, straight shooter, action, fight, asking for trouble, mean, fearless, Brazos Bill, death, killing, forty-five -P-?-?-p-?-?-?-?-?-?

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

2

Baxter Black

The Spur

I came to a low water crossing.

trail, shank, dirt, past, sinner, saint, leather, muscle, bandit, settler, drifter, imaginations, cowpoke, lovers, honky tonk, renegade bronc, trapper, scout, buckaroo, professions, panner, story, unexplained story, mystery, one-legged man

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

4

Baxter Black

Coyote Cowboy Proverbs - not a poem

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

8

Baxter Black

Vanishing Breed?

They call 'em a vanishing breed.

preserve, books, pictures, dinosaur, Tex, Juniper Mountain, toughness, strength, Mike, bachelor, sagebrush aristocrats, Bryan, Albert, Floyd cowman, legend, extinct, endangered species, footnotes, Bull Feces, profession

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

16

Baxter Black

The Cowboy's Goin' Hollywood

I was settin' in a caf? eatin' chili dogs and fries.

friend, change, cowpuncher, Stetson, clothing, fashion, juju beans, designer jeans, Cadillac, Nashville, record, music, band, famous, success, singing lessons, clothing, friendship

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

18

Baxter Black

The Cowboy Gathering

I went to the first annual ever.

convention, cowboy poet, buckaroos, pokes, vaqueros, poppers, drovers, jakes, riding packers, colt sackers, Elko, Nevada, rubber check, poets, refrains, various subjects, topics, story , lack of time

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

24

Baxter Black

The Paradox

The Saddle on the rack was priced at thirteen hundred bucks.

craftsmanship, rawhide, good quality, leather, made-to-order boots, rattlesnake, silk scarves, Wranglers, designer shirts, Copenhagen cans, gourmet's snuff, inlaid spurs, slobber chains, fashion, style, expensive clothing, reality, hard work, authentic, meager pay

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

26

Baxter Black

The Cowboy And His Tapeworm

The world is on a diet.

cowboy's indifference, Mother Nature, self-sufficient, food, Montana, Rio Grande, ultimate consumer, grub, appetite, whiskey, diet pops, eat non-stop, overweight, lean, slim, chubby, healthy

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

28

Baxter Black

The Rooster with Spurs - narrative

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

30

Baxter Black

It Ain't Easy Bein' a Cowboy

It ain't easy bein' a cowboy.

Marlboro man, stereotype, Texas, Hollywood, imagination, Laredo, picture, unreal, exaggeration, image, Nashville, illegal alien, soap opera, dance card, Casey Tibbs, Louie L'Amour, John Wayne, Jessie James, twentieth century cowboy

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

32

Baxter Black

Talk About Tough!

I've listened to varmints braggin'.

Kansas, stubborn ,Peewilliker Mike, cold, sturdiness, fights, struggles, she-bear, unusual skills, teeth, rattlesnake, thrown, bucked, bob wire fence, stirrups, story, liar. barbed wire, fences

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

34

Baxter Black

The Old Stove-Up Cowboys of America - not a poem

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

36

Baxter Black

The Gay Caballero

He wore a black hat and come up from Nevada.

search for work, punching cattle, Virginia Slims, picky, choosey, fashion, style, Leroy Brown, bunkhouse, hair dresser, buns, cute, kiss, actor, tricked, cheated, employment, pink tights, joke, fooled

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

38

Baxter Black

Women and Mules

He's got a black hat and he's broke.

personality, bicycle spoke, cowboy, willing to work hard, rope, wrench, Bossman, charming, bar, children

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

40

Baxter Black

Lookin' Back

All my life I've been eatin' trail dust.

work, river, socks, smell, cold, heat, wet boots, woman, coffee, whiskey, beans, tough meat, nature, happiness, PhD's, green buckaroo, next generation, following footsteps

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

48

Baxter Black

High Tide in Wyoming

They say that was a wet one.

spring, Reno, fish in the tree ,Evinrude, Lubbock, Goodland, Kansas, Nebraska, North Platte, Pendleton, Rapid City, Ouray, Guymon, Livingston, Montana, Provo, Greenpeace, Utah whales, Phoenix, Fanta Fe, California, Iowa, Des Moines, story, tall tale talks

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

54

Baxter Black

Evolution of the Ranch Wife - not a poem

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

62

Baxter Black

Workin' Cows Down to Malta - narrative

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

70

Baxter Black

Crossbred Stew

The steer that topped the show this year was partly Chianina.

Simmental, Limousiners, Gelbvieh, Piedmontese, Charolais, Salers, Tarentaise, half blooded, quarter blooded, Longhorn, Murray Grey, Brahman, Santa Gertrudis, Brangus, Beef master, Bos Indicus, exotic crosses, Angus, Hereford, bloodlines

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

72

Baxter Black

Bentley the Born-Again Bull - narrative

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

73

Baxter Black

The Barroom Deal - narrative

Coyote Cowboy Poetry

FC 11 B-26

78

Baxter Black

R.A.

Attention, you gypos and traders.

gambling, buy cows, prices, herd sire, heifers, tuberculosis, homogenous, bad luck, nefarious, hippopotamus, monotonous, preposterous, precipitous, ex-tinctofous, odiferous, habit, impetuous, bargain, sale, Rancher's Anonymous