I wish that everyone could be a cowboy
Just for one month, one week or a day,
'Cause if you had that chance for just a little while
You'd live and love the rest the Cowboy Way.
You'd work long, hard, honest---and love the same.
Folks that know you are glad to call you friend
And the few that hear you say the words, "I love you"
Know you mean it until the very end.
You'd walk stiff and, yes, a bit bowlegged
And yet ride tall, easy, with soft hands,
Leave unmeasured miles of horse tracks behind you
Like a story written on the wind-blown sands.
You'd know a life of dust, sweat, and saddle leather,
Of traditions held and honored to the core,
Fall in love with lonesome ridges and hidden valleys,
Know why they're worth livin' and dyin' for
You'd see how it all fits: the hills and creeks,
The grass, the cows, the antelope and clouds.
You'll be part of all that and steward of the land,
Seein' Life happen 'cause of you makes you proud.
You'll meet folks keepin' a ranch together like their parents did
Despite random rains and markets when they fall,
Working and praying to give their children the same chance
When they take it makes 'em proudest of all.
I wish that everyone could be a cowboy,
Ride the ridges; know each day you earned your pay,
Have a place worth sweatin' and dyin' for,
Guided by a code you call: The Cowboy Way.
© by Mike Moutoux.
Used with the author's permission.
|