THUNDER BUTTE TRAIL DRIVE

Thunder and lightening, horses, mud and cattle. The way it was

THUNDER BUTTE TRAIL DRIVE

 

Lightning flashed and crackled across the plain
Lighting steers and horses mane
Thunder peeling off the clouds hit
Thunder Butte bounced and rocked as another
Bolt of lightning struck

In pelting rain and dark of night wind
Howling down again the lightning lit
The trailing cattle and struggling men
Who dank and tired worked on in vain
To just make camp despite their pain

As another bolt of emerald fire lit up
The butte and miles of empty desolate space
Tel-tales danced and sparked along the
Herd leaping fairy froth from horn to horn
And back again to lick across the horse`s mane

This night spawned in some devil`s brain
Grew steadily cold and wet and wild
The howling wind thunder born
Spoke about the need of man
To bridge destructive mean for one more
Notch in our human dream

Bawling calves their mother`s lost
Bellowing mad the old gal`s best yet to tear
The squatter`s dream with horn and hoof
As always aloof to the cowboy`s need
Another bolt of static blue sprinkled across
A dead black sky rent by steaming canon bleeds

A muddy horn in the pony`s gut the wrangler curse
Down he`s gone amidst the herd just a groan
And you are all alone
In this cursed rain with clouds of ink the wrangler died
Alone and cold as nature howled and claimed her own

-----   Eagle Cruagh  


 

Reviews

[Tracie Skarbo]

wow, this is amazing. The way you have given the description has me there with you in the dirt and the dust. I can hear the crack of lightening, and the baying of the herd. I can smell the leather and the horses.

A dead black sky rent by steaming canon bleeds ----this is my favorite line.

Another wonderful poem from a true cowboy. Thanks for giving us a glimpse into your past.

Tigra

[Kathryn]

Great piece! Nice usage of the onomatopoeia- really added to the image. I am a huge fan of Western poetry, so there is no surprise that I love this one. I felt like I was in the storm watching this happen, feeling the rain, and smelling the earth turning to mud. Sad ending, but 'tis the usual for a cowboy-story. Well written.

Suggestions: Second stanza- change "there pain" to "THEIR pain".

[Brett Campaigne]

this poem brings you into the storm.