Tag Archives: old west lingo

Corrals were different then,
fences sagged, gates dragged,
old chiefs gruff and crude—

and if related, so profane 
that only eagles watched 
from the tops of twin 

Valley Oaks four foot thick.
My father brought his talk
as bait from the Bulge,

disconnected from command
for a week—and the high-headed 
cows gathered by too many 

wannabes out of the brush 
and narrow canyons,
reason to increase his volume.

I learned the language early,
shared it with my town friends 
on the grammar school playground.