Poem for Saddletramp

[Jinglebob]

Night Sport

The ground was hard, there’d been a thaw
But a front had passed on through
There were icy patches, here and there
And soft spots were damn few

So just before bed, I went out to look
To check for a chilled down calf
“He thought more of his stock than he did of himself”
Should read my epitaph

A heifer had calved, sort’a out of the wind
The calf was shiverin’ and cool
I’d put him and his mom inside a warm barn
I guess I’m a softhearted fool

I saddled up Yeller, he had eyes like a cat
But I still took a flashlight along
It seemed like such a simple chore
As I saddled I hummed a song

That heifer snorted snot, then left
Like a deer, right over the fence
I give her credit she made it look easy
Atheletic, but a little bit dense

We went ‘round and ‘round, back and forth
But she always came back to her child
I used him for bait to lure her to the barn
‘Cuz by now she was gettin’ plumb wild

From one end of the lot to the other we went
She was droppin’ thin green out the back
Yeller was doin’ his best to check her
Like a hockey player on the attack

Mattlock and Peppy had nuthin’ on us
She had moves like a scalded feline
I tried to stifle my urge to murder
that hotblooded, hateful bovine

I swapped that flashlight for my rope
As we blocked her every jump
I was swingin’ my hondo and aimin to swat her
Right there on her knowledge bumb

Just about then, that ‘ol snake got smart
She headed right straight for the shed
Yeller followed her, slippin’ and slidin’
Just like a goosed moose full of lead

I put the calf in the shed with that rotten ‘ol rip
He’d warm up and be plumb fine
But her maternal instincts didn’t seem that strong
So I penned ‘em and tied it with twine

As I unsaddled Yeller, I laughed out loud
She sure was a ringy, old sow
“A job well done”, I thought until morning
When I found, I’d put in the wrong cow!

[Liberty Belle]

“A job well done”, I thought until morning
When I found, I’d put in the wrong cow!

Oh, jinglebob, this poem is wonderful! Been there. Done that. Never even thought of writing a poem about it, although visions of butcher shops entered my mind before I found out it was my fault and that dumb cow knew more than I did.

[Saddletramp]

Thanks Pard, I knew I could count on you to start my day off right. Bad windy here with alot of sand in the air. Calving is going good but there is so much dirt a-fling they're all taking on the same color. Keep writin' and we'll get together sometime,burn some Folgers and spit in the fire.

[sw]

Great one JB. I would bet that everyone of us has done that at least once, I've been guilty in the daylight!!

[Faster horses]

Good job, JB. You had to have been there to write a poem like that!!

I told our night calver at breakfast this morning about your poem. He had to get a cow in (the right one) and went through just about the same thing you wrote about. I am going to print it off for him. I really enjoy Cowboy Poetry (I bought your book, remember?). Anyway, I have tried it a couple of times and am below mediocre. But I think I will post the one I did on our night calver.

First I have to find it. LOL!!!

[Jinglebob]

I hate to admit it, but I really didn't put in the wrong cow , on the incident that this poem was written about. But it made the ending better. I think that is called poetic license!

[Big Muddy rancher]

[Jinglebob]

BMR;
Thank you. I'd like to think I'm a better cowboy than poet, but I think I could find people who would argue both points!

Most of the poems that I write are factual. I've got a friend who told me to remember that when writing he doesn't want historical he wants hysterical. So sometimes you've got to put a slight twist on the facts to get a better poem. Another friend told me that all cake is, is cornbread with frosting so you just take a story and put some frosting on it. I guess I'm kind'a like a steer and just try!