Deputizing the Posse

Deputizing the Posse

trust the outlaws

they rob honestly

their masks never shield 

their eyes

we can see transparently

their intentions

and hand over our souls

with autonomous acquiescence 

but don't trust

the beggars

who ask for your support

then wreak havoc behind your back

steal your loyalty

and bury it like some treasure

of bodies

we have become a Boot Hill

for liars to casket the loot

of our meager existence

not even leaving us enough

to pay the mortgage

on our graves

the outlaws 

just say "Stick 'em up!"

the beggars

put forth their cup

then shoot us in the back

so we die

with our spurs spinning

silently

along with the voice that failed us

when it mattered most.

erin-cilberto

4/6/25

Reviews

[emmajoygreen]

Are we becoming ignorant fools, cynics, 'easy come easy go' or downright arrogant?! Wish someone would tell me because my moods vary as day by day opinions, behaviour, discretion and faith seem to ebb and flo like the inevitable tide. Society has sidled along switching places, knowing manipulation has become top of the list when it comes to what should we learn during whatever education is available. Ethics have gone out the window and economis have taken their place, etc. etc. Think i'll go sit on top of a misty peak and become an oracle or something.. .. .. ..

[MCS]

It's become impossible to tell them apart. We are trapped in an alternate universe where the black and white hats are constantly switching.

[Thomas W Case]

An old west adventure. Poignant and timeless. Great work.

[John the Baptist]

I tend to think the beggars are the seeming needy ones who latch onto us for manipulation's sake.Then they use us for their own purpose and try to control us with guilt if we object. I'll take an honest b***h over a controlling leech any day.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I agree with you, John. Honest over controlling any day.

[Vol]

Erin,
Precisely drawn analysis... sigh.
Personally, I blame Eve.... or wait, the apple, or the snake...ha. I graduated high school in1967, when there was still a measure of rigor in public education, the advanced classes I took bored us to death... 1967 rigor was less than half that of my grandfather's 8th grade education in a one room school. We as a country have encouraged ignorance and ridiculed the intellectual for at least the last hundred and twenty years. The liberal arts are dead as a social norm... you and I belong to the very last of literary America. In the darkness, we willingly "reach for the sky" and can no longer discern the lie
Vol

[jacob erin-cilberto]

And me in 1968...and yes, Push them all through is the motto now...and what good is the education in this case.
Thank you for your input Vol.
j.

[Pete]

you just can;t trust anyone. as the old adage advises, "better the devil you know than the devil you don't". beware those bearing big smiles. i watch the old andy griffith show and this made me think of the capers of barney fife, gomer pyle, floyd (the barber) lawson and goober. although a bit twisted, being buried with your boots on does have its advantages. sadly, well said.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your words, Pete....Ah Andy and a simpler time.
j.

[Desert Knave]

I'm not sure I can tell the difference most times these days. Thought-provoking write. ~Jim

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Jim,
j.

[DecentlyOkayWriter]

their masks never shield
their eyes
. . .
(My favorite part. .)

Maybe the outlaws are the ones to trust, their motives are clear. They go out to steal what they need to earn, it's an 'honest' business, at the very least. The beggars hold their cups for free, who knows what they do with the earnings once the coins find their way in.

I liked this one, but that's nothing new with your writing, apparently.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, who knows?

Thank you for your kind review, Decently.
j.