The boys in the outfit, when we pushed those sad heifers
from Jack’s Flats up through the north pass
Was a sorry collection of misfits and no goods,
But brimmin’ with plenty of sass
There was a lad we called Magpie, because like the bird
He’d chow on whatever he’d find
We ‘times called him Maggie, and sometimes Maggot
for reasons that now slip my mind.
They was ‘Lasses O’Rielly, who moved kind of slow
and Turtle, who hadn’t no neck,
And Big Red McCormick, who scowled when he laughed
and told stories that’d scare you to heck.
They was Belch, and then Tub, and a feller named Slim
who weighted in under four-eighteen
And that drover named Dallas, who rode with a whip
‘round his horn, and was known to be mean.
There was a tall skinny dude who rode the left flank,
Bones was what he was named,
On account of the slouchy way he would ride,
hunched over, and loose with the reins,
And a boy from Wyomin’ we referred to as Casper
Because of his snowy white hair,
And old Dead-eye Dave, who drew wages from Satan
and could send you to Hell with his stare.
They was Sally, the camp cook, who had a light touch
with a popgut, well-seasoned with sage,
and that youngster called Dumplin’, who’d looked so danged gaunt
the boss never asked him his age.
Yep, those boys in the outfit were a mixed mangy bunch,
the sort you’d best give wide berth
A hash of philosophers, poets and clowns,
but they spoke with the voice of the Earth.
And though my words might make fun,
there’s a tear in my eye
‘cause I know in that crew were true friends,
and I’d gladly trade in my wealth and my goods
to ride with that outfit again.
Jo Lynne Kirkwood was born in Kanab, Utah, and grew up in the small farming/ranching community of Fredonia, Arizona. Her great-grandfather was one of the original settlers of the area, and her family lived the traditional alfalfa and cattle lifestyle of the area. She attended Southern Utah University, Brigham Young and Utah State University. She is now an
English and Art teacher in Sevier School District, Utah. She lives with her
husband and four children on a farm in the county outside Sigurd,
Utah, where they raise calves and alfalfa.
She has had poems published in The Wyoming Companion, American Cowboy Magazine, and has received the "Robert Service Award" from Bette Wolfe Duncan’s "The Rancher’s Wife." She was named one of "Eight Seconds" by CowboyPoetry.com, and is a "Lariat Laureate" at cowboypoetry.com.
From this valley they say you are going
We shall miss your bright eyes and sweet smile
For they say you are taking the sunshine
that has brightened our lives for awhile.
Now you’re riding the herd before sunrise
Cold biscuits and reheated dregs
Working the flank and swallowing dust
and prayin’ your bets have been hedged.
And by the time the day ends in shadow
You’re sweating and stiff and near gone,
So tired there’s no taste in the beans Cookie’s made
and you sleep in the clothes you have on.
When the herd’s settled down to a millin',
And the early crew’s longin’ for sleep,
Then a heavy hand falls on your shoulder.
Nighthawk, it’s your watch to keep.
All alone with the starlight and music
of the guitar that old Ruby plays,
Do your thoughts wander back to Red River
and the maiden who begged you to stay?
Come and sit by my side ere you leave me.
Do not hasten to bid me adieu
But remember this Red River Valley
and the maiden who waits here for you.
When the silence of night wraps around you
in those witching hours three until dawn,
does the empty and lonely surround you
cold and chill, like a lost lover’s arms? v
Do you think of her then and remember
gentle hands, loving eyes, shinning hair?
And do you open the clasp of your watch case
to touch the soft chestnut curl nestled there?
You have chosen the trail you now follow,
your way made bright by the bridges you’ve burned.
But a part of your heart’s stayed behind you,
in the arms of a love that you’ve spurned.
Did you ever return to Red River?
to that girl who was sure you’d come home?
Or did you live out you life in a saddle
on a trail headed West, all alone.
Jo Lynne Kirkwood was born in Kanab, Utah, and grew up in the small farming/ranching community of Fredonia, Arizona. Her great-grandfather was one of the original settlers of the area, and her family lived the traditional alfalfa and cattle lifestyle of the area. She attended Southern Utah University, Brigham Young and Utah State University. She is now an
English and Art teacher in Sevier School District, Utah. She lives with her
husband and four children on a farm in the county outside Sigurd,
Utah, where they raise calves and alfalfa.
She has had poems published in The Wyoming Companion, American Cowboy Magazine, and has received the "Robert Service Award" from Bette Wolfe Duncan’s "The Rancher’s Wife." She was named one of "Eight Seconds" by CowboyPoetry.com, and is a "Lariat Laureate" at cowboypoetry.com.
