“Not another calf?” I heard this other rider say,
and then add, stoppin’ next to me “why us, and why today?”.
We’d had a day’s hard ridin', and it wasn’t over yet, not by a mile.
Looking down the bluff, most anyone would see, right off
this wouldn’t be an easy one. This gulch was like a trough.
How he got there, who could say? But we both knew that this'd take a while.
There was nothin' but to do it, and we both knew what to do.
The storm was only gettin' closer and the dark was comin’ too.
Lariats looped on saddle horns, he took the horses' reins. I took the walk.
He was standin’ up there, starin’ at those thunderheads off north.
I was slidin’ downhill on my heels on soft, red, crumbling earth.
The stray was bawlin’ "mama"... an’ as I climbed I prayed he wouldn’t balk.
The calf took off when I hit bottom, and with him went those hopes.
I blessed Grandad for sayin’ “Son, you always take two ropes!”
The spare was off my shoulder and it didn’t take me long to make my toss.
I caught him with the first one and I played him like a bass,
A’mutterin all the while “C’mon, you stubborn little ass!
You keep me here an fightin’ you much longer and we’re both a total loss!”
The way he fought the rope I knew he’d never try the climb.
A rumble up the canyon said I didn’t have much time
So I tossed and tied him, thought a sec, then wrapped him in a sling rigged from my chaps.
I hitched him on and hollered “Let’s go, now!” with all my breath,
then looked up and I saw a thing that scared me half to death.
The wall of water thunderin' at us made this gulch the deadliest of traps.
I threw myself down on that calf, and breathed a quiet prayer
that this new feller wasn’t takin’ his sweet time, up there,
then I heard him shout, and heard a slap, and we were slidin’ up the wall.
The water hit me hard right at my gun-belt at the crest:
I may have some luck still comin’… but it’s not a thing I’d test.
My unknown partner handed me my reins and softly sighed, and said “close call”.
The foreman had a worried frown when we came ridin’ in.
He poured two cups o’ Joe and said, “Just where the hell you been?
We was thinkin’ you was lost, or maybe you’d got caught in that flash-flood!”
He wouldn’t have believed it, if we told him how it’d been.
I glanced at my new buddy and he flashed a little grin,
and said, “just another calf. He’d wandered off and got hisself stuck in the mud.”
Well, that ends the story, and also pretty much this song.
The other guy I mentioned? Yeah, he’ll do to take along.
I told him, while we got our chow, “sure glad you were around to lend a hand”.
He sorta smiled at that, bobbed his head and said “Me, too,
But as long as I was there, an’ didn’t have much else to do…”
He took a bite and chewed, then said, “It’s just a part of ridin’ for the brand.”
© 2001 by eric lee
Author notes
You can hear the author read this work t http://www.normpo.com/~Eric/'nothercalf.mp3
Me, yeah...I'd say it was an adventure!
A contest entry
- Let's hear it for adventure by davidwright.
600 points, ended July 19, 2008, 10 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 8 of 8
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great story, a very enjoyable read.
Rory
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Great story and a fitting gold winner. Congratulations on a job well done.
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Wow, that's quite a tale; had me on the edge of my seat. I like the "So I tossed and tied him, thought a sec, then wrapped him in a sling rigged from my chaps," and "just another calf."
Congratulations on the gold.
Marlene -
That's a damn good write. I thought I was the only cowboy on the site shows me how wrong I was. Thanks for being a contestan and happy trail.
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It ain't nothin' but what I was born to...everything else is sorta pasted over the top.
Glad you liked it.
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Thanks for sending me the audio link. I was hooked and held in suspense! I love this exciting poem! Damn, you're good!
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well, I was only 15 when it happened, but no...I'd been a working wrangler on Granddaddy's ranch for three years at that point, so it was a long way from my first time tossin' a lariat.
As for the flow...I tend to run into this problem now and then when i write in colloquial language, and all I can say is "well, if you could hear me say it out loud..." (It's an accent thing, I think. LOL)
Thanks for the comment, Chris. Come anytime. -
i think i misinterpreted some parts of this...but overall, i felt this tale being unfolded on a child's first lassoing....i'm not sure if i spelt that right, but that's the impression i got...
the structure was neat, and the rhyming worked out, but i felt that at some points it didn't flow all too nicely, but at least it maintained with the story line....well done
peace
chris
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