Cowboy And Dad Poem by john tiong chunghoo

cowboy films
they were dad's favourite
and he did want me
to be a cowboy
each time giving
me that smart pose
of john wayne
and speaking in his tongue
dad's golden years
we spent quite a lot
of time in the theatres
watching nothing
but cowboy movies
those movies with
plenty of gunshots
bravemen and cowards
a lost child
and his gun toting dad
i was a mere three foot tall
but dad did want me
to be a cowboy even then
ever enthusiastic in
showing me
that smart pose
with his leather hat
that bent upwards
tipped
at an angle
i tried them all
gun, imagined horse,
and that round little black patch
with a rubber strip
that i worn over an eye
crying in my prebuscent voice
'bang! bang! bang! '
our seating room
the battle field
a giant and a little cowboys
acting out the scenes
in the cowboy movies
one day neighbour george
walked into the house
and were caught
between in a flurry of bullets
to say sorry, we told him
he could be the next wayne
in our own movie