Desperado

(For Writer's Cramp contest, reflection on Johnny Cash)

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The Writer's Cramp  (13+) Write the best poem or story in 24 hours or less and win 10K GPS! #333655 by Sophurky

An old worn out hand, a cowboy
Exhausted at having captured freedom
Rejecting modern life, instead he wanders
Ranging out so far from his home
He seeks no company but rides alone
A tall black hat protects him from the rain

So Cash gave to his fans who, too, sought freedom
A chance to leave their mortgage, freely wander
Yet with their jobs and children stay at home.
He pointed to the pain to ride alone
And, like the “Desperado” in the rain
Each fan felt they truly were cowboys

The cowboy of the story freely wanders
The queen of hearts requires a loving home
In choosing none you chose to live alone
And feel yourself drifting in the rain
Cash sets up here the ideal of the cowboy
A single lonely man in search of freedom

Sometimes I ache to turn away from home
Amidst the cries I long to be alone
Sometimes I stand out, face up in the rain
How glorious seems the life of those cowboys!
To range across the land in endless freedom!
To journey where they wish, to always wander!

Yet dreadful is the silence of “alone”
And I freeze to the bone when out in rain
My roping skills far less than a cowboy’s.
The bars of sadness only mimic freedom
And saddlesore and weary, those who wander
Cash teaches us to truly love our home

No life is only sunshine; all bring rain
Wild hearts lie in mothers and cowboys
To live the life you chose – now there is freedom!
And such songs let us stay although we wander
The desperado seeks a loving home
A joyful place where he stands not alone

Idolize a cowboy and seek freedom
But when you wander, make sure you come home
Else you alone ask questions to the rain