A scant twenty years,
grieved a century or more
Poetically perfect,
in spirit and lore
A man and his horse,
out riding the range
The cattle his instruments,
and music to play
Civil War veterans and blacks
from the South
Through dust and dark clouds,
—snowy blizzards that mount
Together they battled,
in concert they fought
Each unto himself,
life’s harmony caught
The hardship and death,
to him worth the price
Pushing always ahead,
his past now contrite
The only thing telling,
to be left at the end
Was the legend he gave us,
—and the message it sends
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)