Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE MARRIED MAN, by CHARLES BADGER CLARK JR. Poet's Biography First Line: There's an old pard of mine that sits by his door Last Line: When I'm tired from the wind and the sun. Alternate Author Name(s): Clark, Badger Subject(s): Cowboys; Family Life; Relatives | ||||||||
There's an old pard of mine that sits by his door And watches the evenin' skies. He's sat there a thousand of evenin's before And I reckon he will till he dies. El pobre! I reckon he will till he dies, And hear through the dim, quiet air Far cattle that call and the crickets that cheep And his woman a-singin' a kid to sleep And the creak of her rockabye chair. Once we made camp where the last light would fail And the east wasn't white till we'd start, But now he is deaf to the call of the trail And the song of the restless heart. El pobre! the song of the restless heart That you hear in the wind from the dawn! He's left it, with all the good, free-footed things, For a slow little song that a tired woman sings And a smoke when his dry day is gone. I've rode in and told him of lands that were strange, Where I'd drifted from glory to dread. He'd tell me the news of his little old range And the cute things his kids had said! El pobre! the cute things his kids had said! And the way six-year Billy could ride! And the dark would creep in from the gray chaparral And the woman would hum, while I pitied my pal And thought of him like he had died. He rides in old circles and looks at old sights And his life is as flat as a pond. He loves the old skyline he watches of nights And he don't seem to care for beyond. El pobre! he don't seem to dream of beyond, Nor the room he could find, there, for joy. "Ain't you ever oneasy?" says I one day. But he only just smiled in a pityin' way While he braided a quirt for his boy. He preaches that I orter fold up my wings And that even wild geese find a nest. That "woman" and "wimmen" are different things And a saddle nap isn't a rest. El pobre! he's more for the shade and the rest And he's less for the wind and the fight, Yet out in strange hills, when the blue shadows rise And I'm tired from the wind and the sun in my eyes, I wonder, sometimes, if he's right. I've courted the wind and I've followed her free From the snows that the low stars have kissed To the heave and the dip of the wavy old sea, Yet I reckon there's somethin' I've missed. El pobre! Yes, mebbe there's somethin' I've missed, And it mebbe is more than I've won Just a door that's my own, while the cool shadows creep, And a woman a-singin' my kid to sleep When I'm tired from the wind and the sun. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MY AUNT ELLA MAE by MICHAEL S. HARPER THE GOLDEN SHOVEL by TERRANCE HAYES LIZARDS AND SNAKES by ANTHONY HECHT THE BOOK OF A THOUSAND EYES: I LOVE by LYN HEJINIAN CHILD ON THE MARSH by ANDREW HUDGINS MY MOTHER'S HANDS by ANDREW HUDGINS PLAYING DEAD by ANDREW HUDGINS THE GLASS HAMMER by ANDREW HUDGINS INSECT LIFE OF FLORIDA by LYNDA HULL A BORDER AFFAIR by CHARLES BADGER CLARK JR. A BAD HALF HOUR by CHARLES BADGER CLARK JR. A COWBOY'S PRAYER (WRITTEN FOR MOTHER) by CHARLES BADGER CLARK JR. |
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