Real Myths / Kind Cowboys

Real Myths / Kind Cowboys

I been a cowboyin' since a pup
Reckon that's nigh on forty years
And I've rode with a heap o' punchers
Most of 'em fine and kind cowboy peers

There was this one exception though
Comes to mind ponderin’ men I worked with
He was a legend in his own mind
Reckon that's why they called him "Myth"

He weren't really such a bad sort
Once you got past his bein' so dense
We never expected he meant any harm
Truth is he just didn't have a lick o' sense

Examples of his crazy shenanigans
Oh, now those are legendary tales
Hard to imagine a man bein’ so goofy
But I'll help by describin' you some details

Here's an perfect example from
One of my very first Myth contacts
It was at the end of a long day
Remember now, these are just the facts

It was late summer last year
We'd brought in the mares for sortin'
Separating heavies from maidens
You know, for disease and problem thwartin’

Ol' Myth was part of the crew that day
He was ridin’ a little, fourteen hand appy
Bluejeans was known for her rough ride
Strippin' off her saddle, Myth was feelin' scrappy

He walked right behind that mare
Purposely punchin’ her hard on her tail
She kicked that saddle so hard and fast
Knocked him ten feet onto a bale

Then there was an event so weird
I keep thinkin' it was just imagination
But after revisiting the barn damage
I can tell this is an honest summation

It weren't any special day or nuthin’
I was in the barn muckin' stalls
When of a sudden over by the bull pen
I heard a quick rush of footfalls

I stepped out to have a look-see
What the commotion was all about
And ran smack on into the Myth
Who was flat running all out

Behind him was our prize black bull
Chasin’ and snortin' a grouch on
Myth, he climbed to the loft
Me, I hid 'til that bull was gone

The bull did some damage for sure
But nothing that couldn't be fixed
When Myth climbed on down
Clearly his feelins' was all mixed

The man weren't exactly no young 'un
Havin' at least a decade on me
But with poutin' and fidgetin' I swear
He somehow looked less'n three

"How come that bull was chasin' you Myth?
How'd you make him so durned mad?"
"Well, they told me go milk the cow, see,
So I found him with that hangy-down doo-dad"

I started laughin' so hard I never heard
The rest of the story if he concluded
But I 'spect you can get the gist
From the parts to which he alluded

When it came to workin’ ‘round stock
Myth simply had no sense at all
But he figured hisself Cowboy for sure
And he was in it for the long haul

Well I reckon he enjoyed his status
being a legend in his own mind
Not sure why the boss kept him on
But even boss cowboys can be kind

By, Rik Goodell

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