The crowd is loudly cheering
For that is what crowds do
But, I only hear my heartbeat
For now, it's just us two

There's clowns in the arena
There's four barrels where they hide
But, it's me who faces danger
It's me that has to ride

They joke about the battle
They tell tales of my ex-wife
How I said "I did your sister"
Then I held on for my life

The truth is much more dangerous
The truth is what I know
The truth is underneath me
The truth is set to go

My boots are on the sideboards
Beneath me is the bull
A hurricane in waiting
With his anger set on full

The crowd still cheering loudly
I lower myself down
the rope around my right hand
Eight seconds to the crown

I'm not here to fight him
Just to hold on and be one
He'll try his best to throw me
I'm the bullet, he's the gun

I try to match his breathing
Slow mine down just like my heart
In a heartbeat it is over
But, right now, I'm set to start

I signal that I'm ready
It takes forever, but, it's quick
I now hear both our heartbeats
While I am waiting for the click....

With her cowpoke
She went riding out with him
One dark and windy day.

The desert had forsaken their love and left their hearts astray.

As sharp as a cactus' spine, her lips did pine for days.

They sat around their victim's pyres tasting burnt bone, curdled blood.

She saw the mess of her cowpoke, blonde and brown beauties layed in the mud.

She asked why must these girls die
If their looks were truly good
He mumbled that his heart had been broken by the stormy flood.

So they swept across Arizona with it's bright windy haze
And withdrew their revolvers with eyes that met in gaze

They downed a couple of beers in the dusky saloon
Until right in front of them was the old rusty moon

Tonight she will riding out in the ****** lands
Where with her man she'll be soaking her rigid hands

In wine that oozes from the corpses in the sands
And in the sheets ridin' she'll take command.

The beast slinking in your eyes
scans my body,
searching for placement of your first bite.
The heat from your fire burns,
Soaking me in the desire that drips from your teeth.
Shooting stars land on my shoulders
where you rip me open,
and your gods steal my breath
to coax a song from my heart.

Setting out, Sun reflects his light through trees bare of leaves, their limbs cast shadows on the road, like veins made visible they lay across the land connecting everything…shift.

Ahead, eyes focused forward, the larger picture is laid before me, the details in the distance dance out of bounds, only becoming clear when they wish for me to know them…shift.

Standing tall, rising to heed the call of the climb, I feel my breath and hear the beat of my heart keeping time with the turning of my feet. Adversity rides with me, he questions my confidence and fortitude without seeing I have made it this far before…shift.

Flying, only downward rather than up. My legs quickly turn, refreshed from the release of tension. The howling in my ears mixed with the rush of speed assures me I am alive…shift.

The winds refuse to ease, and they remind me of their promise to make me stronger. My body is slow, but steady is the rhythm, and my acceptance of the challenge rewards me…shift.

Behind me now is all that has been achieved. Turning home, Sun warms my shoulders as birds dart from bush to branch, asking me to stay. Shadows grow long while lingering clouds disappear giving way to Moon, her face pale in the hours before twilight…shift.

Out here, I am offered perspective. Beautifully, nature eases the effort of riding through life, shifting gears.

Fractured Fairytales, Part Two,
A sordid little tale for you.......
Stranger Danger!
Stranger Danger!
Lil' Red Riding Hood,
Alone in the woods,
Stranger Danger!
Stranger Danger!
Who is this stranger?
It's the Park Ranger!
Is he up to no good?
Prowling around in the woods?
Stranger Danger!
Stranger Danger!
Lil' Red Riding Hood,
Alone in the woods,
He's thrown away her phone,
Now Lil' Hood is not alone,
Now he's up to good,
Bad news for Lil' Red  Riding Hood,
Stranger Danger!
Stranger Danger!
Bad Park Ranger!
Stranger Danger!
He's turned her into a ****,
Now he's got her up the duff,
Stranger Danger!
Bad Park Ranger!
Now she's a single mother,
Should have had a better mother,
Letting her walk alone in the woods,
Bad handsome Park Ranger,
Stranger Danger!
Stranger Danger!
A sordid little verse for you,
That was Fractured Fairytales, Part Two.

Everybody knows
Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic
as the Three "R's" you need
Without them
you'll go nowhere
and never will succeed

Writing...that's a W
and Arithmetic an A
so, who ever came up
With "Three "R's"
was having a bad day

Now, go and ask a cowboy
what the three "R's"
are to him
You'll get a different answer
I'll bet you
one to ten

Ropin', Ridin' and Rodeo
The cowboy's three R list
Reading, Writing, Arithmetic
the big three that I missed

But if they do not have the first three
They are not a cowboy
not a chance
they're just another townie
just another fancy pants

So, to be a proper cowboy
there's six "R's"
they must know
the first three
along with
ridin', ropin, and
rodeo