Sam and I

went for a ride. This is the picture I took of him afterwords….

This is what I wrote after we came in the house…. real rough, haven’t even started polishing it yet but thought some of you might like to see it…

Ridin’ with Sam
Yellow gold leaves with a touch of red somehow
show the course of the creek
where the Ash tree’s are changing folige for winter
they mask the smell of the weak

Along that watercourse deer have died in scores
a tiny bug has laid them low
Sam on Squirt and I on Mijo, look for sick calves
we move along, slow

Sam is four and Squirt is twenty eight this year
born before Chance was born
Sam is the son of Chance and today my top hand
and now my heart is torn

The joy of riding with a grandson of mine
makes my old heart smile
his magpie chatter and ceaseless barrage of questions
has me grinning for the first mile

Then we find a dead calf alongside of the creek
the drought fills my mind
dry dusty conditions have prevailed for weeks
so I worry at what else we may find

Driest I have ever seen it in over fifty years
set new records for dry
this years clouds that came brought little rain
fire instead of wet from the sky

Sam has filled my heart this morning as we rode
the drought far from my mind
but a calf that was under my care is now dead
failure and drought are back on my mind

I failed to save this poor calf by my neglect
not finding him in time
perhaps I could have saved him with some magic potion
in my vaccine bottle of slime

I understand, it’s really not totally my fault
cowmen know you don’t save them all
but you try your best to prove that theory wrong
so my world now has a dark pall

we ride on, there’s nothing we can do for this calf
my worries cloud my thoughts
Sam chatters on with questions and laughter
unaware of “I shoulda’s and Ought’s

At the end of the ride we find only one more
sick, not dead this time
A quick throw of rope and Mijo holds him still
I feel a bit better of my crime

“Well, perhaps I’ve saved that one” I console myself
tho’ it does little for my heart pain
Sam chatters about him and his “cowboy grampa”
Lord please, send us some rain

RD 9/25/12