Buck N Rail Redoux Poem by Curtis Goodnight

"Tired 'ol buck 'n rail"
I wrote a long while ago:
"I have leaned on you untold
sunsets and too many cigars, and yes
some tears
as yet another woman
rode out of this story corral.

Ranged the world
these trail ridden women
New Zealand, Bhutan, Jamaica
France and South Africa
or just over the pass-

North or South or Ever West
striking out for some god or a guru
or simply
a different
believable future.

And all that time, I have leaned on
this grey fence
which runs right into the setting sun
and which was yet another dream
with yet another woman"


Nowadays
I step slower as I measure out the boards
And I arrange seating so's I can rework the boat cradle
[ for the fourth time.]
I try to laugh
and get a bit symbolic.
My dreams. My reality.
Getting swirled together
nowadays...


But her old laying hen died yesterday-
tho still alive when I brought her inside
and laid her in fresh straw to stay warm

she still died.

Dreams. Reality. Symbols.
I just grieved and grieved
and grieved.