by Bob E. Lewis (1929-2001)
I was trying to find an old chuck wagon,
I was trying to make a good deal,
I found one out on the old Hashknife ranch,
All there but one hindermost wheel.
(Borrowed that phrase from J.B. Allen)
They said they quit using it some time ago,
It had been sitting right there ever since,
Their cowboys all wanted house cooking to eat,
And not have to build anymore fence.
They had no idea where that wheel had gone,
What would anyone do with a wheel.
They found it all fastened up on the wall good and tight,
In those spokes there was wet muddy boot heels.
There was many a times you came in soaking wet,
Those old boots would really stick tight,
You could pull, you could grunt, cuss and throw fits,
Those old boots stayed with all of their might.
You could stick your boot in the fork of those spokes,
Job the heel down hard to the core,
All you had to then, was to lean back and grin,
And that old boot would slip down to the floor.
Needless to say I left that old wheel where it was,
Fastened up on that old bunkhouse wall,
For if I had of taken that wheel home with me,
I’d still be hiding out come next fall.
Many thanks go to Mr. Bob E. Lewis, known as America’s leading bootnik poet.
Links
- Please visit Rafter “L” Ranch to read more Bob Lewis poetry…and that of his friends. This website has the unique feature of posting many of the poems in audio-format.
© Bob E. Lewis, 1999. All poems are copyright the artist and should not be reproduced without permission.
