Elegy for a Western Husband
©2023 by Abbie Johnson Taylor
Here lies a man who loved the west.
He never rode a horse or roped a steer,
but clad in his cowboy hat,
he rounded up cattle, mucked out stables,
battled adversaries, all from his recliner
with Gene Autrey, John Wayne, and Zayne Gray.
After two strokes paralyzed his left side,
he allowed his loving wife
to help him with personal care,
prepare his meals, do his laundry
until one night, when he saddled Death’s horse,
rode to that range in the sky.
***
Author’s Note: My Third Thursday Poets were recently prompted to write a poem about the west. We’re in Wyoming, by the way. Go figure.
Anyway, my late husband Bill was a fan of all things western: books, movies, music. He also subscribed to and read True West Magazine. So, the subject of this poem was a no-brainer. It was recently posted on Patty’s Worlds. You can click the link below to hear me read it.
Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography
Photo Resize and Description
by Two Pentacles Publishing
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