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Sunday, May 12, 2013

TALE OF THE NEW WEST



This is the New West
not the old
where women were hardy
and cowpokes were bold
and most didn't have to worry
about growing old

No iron horses
chugging along
belching innocuous steam
just row upon row
of  SUVs
backed up down the block
windows rolled tight
air conditioners humming
whene'er it reaches 70

No gunslingers
dueling in the middle
of a dusty street
just your nightly drive-by shooting
over in da hood

No cattle drives
'cross the lone prairie
but your ripped-off stereo
is being driven 
to the pawn shop across town
as we speak

This is the New West
not the old

The wide open spaces 
 filled in by  housing developments
springing up like weeds
for as far as the eye can see

A home
where no buffalo roam
just old folks
warehoused and tossed aside
stripped of their pride

Where Buffalo Bill
is popping some pills
Miss Kitty runs
and escort service
and Cool Hand Luke
is taking a puke
out back behind the titty bar

Where they don't hang horse thieves
anymore
and the car thieves are too fast
to get caught
now they're cooling their jets
in the Mexican sun
getting ready
to make another run

This is the New West
not the old

But those gritty pioneers
are still celebrated with the
Shootout At The O.K. Corral
and those stuntmen
they bounce right up again
after being shot
(over in the barrio
they just lie prone
as often as not)

Here
in the land of make believe
where a store bought hat
makes you a cowboy

Here
in the New West
same as the Old West
where you may never
have to worry
about growing old

27 comments:

  1. here in the land of make believe...ha...you got that right...plastic people in prefab homes & fake gunslingers walking the street...there is no difference now between the white and black hats either...

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  2. Right...and all those "tall" cowboys look that way because they are wearing boots with 6 inch heels!

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  3. __And one wonders why, some find it necessary and approvable to 'put-up' with other's societal views... and yet, those that WE
    -must liberally condone-, condemn our beliefs and tenets... as insensitive conservatism. We hafta pud up wid dem, but dey don hafta pud up wid us?

    history
    to these over tolerant
    never heeded

    Ooooops! An angry moment, I guess. _m

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  4. DOUG:And thanks for bringing your own soapbox, so I didn't have to lend you mine!

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  5. DOUG: No need. Feel free...anytime.

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  6. It's strange that though much has changed there is so much that has stayed the same - just the backdrop is painted slightly differently, and the bullion and weapons have been upgraded. There are still showdowns, shootouts, ambushes and solace to be found in a shot of whisky and a ready woman.

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  7. Great insight, Kerry. How true. How true.

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    Replies
    1. PS. Thanks for the comment re my new pic. My daughter accused me of vanity, but a year short of 50, I'll take all the compliments I get ;-)

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  8. Thinks;- I must get me a cowboy hat...

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  9. "I'll be your Burberry"....lol. This was spot on.

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  10. Great write, Timo - not much difference in the mentality either, people still think they need to pack a gun to feel safe.

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  11. KERRY: Never would have guessed that...I was thinking "29"

    JINKSY: And a paste on mustache to complete the look!

    HEROTOMOST: Thanks, but it doesn't rain much in these here parts!

    SHERRY: Yes, that is the gist of the poem--the more things change, the more they stay the same.

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  12. There is quite a bit of the Old West going on in my neck of the woods ... Russ and Vic throwing punches ... even Kitty is still doing her thing ... back here "in the sticks" ... coyotes chasing calves as the cat is sitting on the porch ... looking on ... until, some day, it's her turn ... meow ... ^.^

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  13. This made me smile, a pleasure to read :)

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  14. Great write..

    especially

    Where Buffalo Bill
    is popping some pills
    Miss Kitty runs
    and escort service
    and Cool Hand Luke
    is taking a puke
    out back behind the titty bar

    enjoyed your write

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  15. the old and the new cowboys...they look a bit different...but their heart didn't change much...right

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  16. CAT: Wow, you are so far back in the sticks, there are no more stones.

    POPPY: Glad you liked it.

    BJORN: Glad you liked those lines...they break me up whenever I think of them...it's great when you can laugh at your own stuff...means you're good at entertaining yourself--so what more do you need?

    CLAUDIA: Right--they've traded horses for horsepower, and instead of cleaning up the horse crap, we have to figure out a way to plug the hole in the ozone layer.

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  17. I love how you modernized the iconic figures of the past, Tim. It's a sad world we live in, in so many ways...our obsession with things that really shouldn't matter...

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  18. I'm not too far from the shootouts at the OK Corral across the bridge in Oakland or the old town sheriffs running amok over there--it is a sad reality--just my 2 cents as I turn the AC on

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  19. TALON: I didn't mean to paint a totally negative picture...because the weather here is pretty nice. LOL

    AUDREY: Oh, it's 69 degrees...get them windows rolled up and get ready to turn that gas guzzlin' air conditioner on, darlin'

    (That wouldn't be so funny if it weren't so true--folks out here are some of the softest and most spoiled of anywhere you will find!)

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  20. Like the take on the old and new west ~ I haven't met a real cowboy though ~

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  21. You made me want to watch an old western movie! The Old West is fascinating history. Cool the way you made the correlations to the mod world.

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  22. GRACE: As Joe Buck said in Midnight Cowboy: "I ain't a fer real cowboy."

    POET LAUNDRY: It was fascinating, and we do our best to preserve that legacy by continuing the tradition of gun violence.

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  23. Some things never change... I do believe the old West had it right though, simplicity.

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  24. Timoteo, it is the old west with new technology and it is disheartening as hell. People are completely vicious. A sofa and beers. :)

    Pamela

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  25. DANA: Thanks for checking in.

    PAMELA: Good observation!

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