A Cowboy can't cry

A Cowboy can't cry

A Poem by lee von cleef
"

Loss

"

The cattle are hidden in
a thicket, along a flint hill’s gully,
and the rain rolls across the Kansas night,
thunder pumping, rolling
deep, throaty, hollow bellows.

Gods breathe and clouds slap.
Rocks and roots charge through
the narrows ripping at the
thickets.

Thunder’s rolling rhythm broken by
the calves panicked screams,
flashing, the flood quenches the
Kansas night.


Undercut or buried, the cattle are gone.
The distance carries their breath away.
The moon’s midnight watch echoes the
bawling calves.

And a cowboy can’t cry.
cold are the tears in morning coffee.

L.V.C.

© 2012 lee von cleef


Author's Note

lee von cleef
Save it for the early hours after a rain

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Featured Review

I can see the tears evaporating, uncried from the skyblue eyes. I can hear the cry that will never escape his throat in the questioning panic of the cattle.
I can feel the electric static of emotion held in the thin threads of a plaid flannel shirt. His solitude the only salvation from sparking into an inferno.

Posted 11 Years Ago


2 of 2 people found this review constructive.




Reviews

*Sigh* Being a cowgirl myself, this was an emotional read for me..Loved the rhythm, the content and the style. It is the hurricanes that always threatened my horses and I know the mood you have described here all too well

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

A somber mood is evident here, the cattle images are powerfully conveyed, overall Lee, a fine poem

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Born of leather, bathed in dust he just is,

soul without age or end

his life is advertised along his face.

The smell of the earth is good and familiar

A smell he knows and loves.

It holds the seed of life,

just as God’s good rains release it.

it’s said that a cowboy can’t cry

those same rains refresh both soil and soul

and it is Heaven's tears rained down upon him

that spares the cowboy's eye.


Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

lee von cleef

12 Years Ago

Not all can comment to move , to move a word ,to move the meaning
not all can add spelling, ad.. read more
Michael G. Smith

11 Years Ago

Cowboys can't cry, but pour their heart out in song like rain.
I love the first stanza!! Brilliantly penned!! This makes me miss and almost become choked up in missing the country life and the horses I've raised!!
I love this!! Maika'i no!!

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

frivolous treasures

12 Years Ago

"he rides the wild horses
the same blood runs through their veins
Yes, he rides the wild.. read more
lee von cleef

12 Years Ago

Paste it post it, get the reviews!
frivolous treasures

12 Years Ago

lol its an old song i think.... I cant remember who sang it, but I remember it was playing while I w.. read more
The cattle are hidden in
a thicket, along a flint hill’s gully,
and the rain rolls across the Kansas night,
thunder pumping, rolling
deep, throaty, hollow bellows.


Best paragraph out of the poem. Interesting details are all over the poem, along with the emotion and the feel in it.

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Love this poem....i can interpret into my day to day life which drew me into the poem & felt the emotion for myself. Also it's very descriptive, which makes for a vivid animation in my head of it! Very nice.

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

I am enamored with nature but this poem with draw in those that aren’t

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Thunderstorms I've witnessed in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Iowa were awe inspiring.

Caught in the powerful pinchers of nature, I felt for the lost herd. Great poem.

Posted 12 Years Ago


nice imagery

Posted 12 Years Ago


Wow, this is a total story (and a sad one) in a short poem. The images are so strong and real. Great writing with lots of detail.

Posted 12 Years Ago



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Added on July 19, 2012
Last Updated on July 19, 2012

Author

lee von cleef
lee von cleef

AR



About
Good morning,Thank you for stopping by. I like to write,I like to layer a story into a poem,I want to crack through to the reader,add emotion to life, theirs and mine. more..

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