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| "THE TRIAL OF THE TRAIL" |
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IKE AND WYATT
Two men opposed
With friends arose
Faced with danger
Consumed with anger
March down the street
Two sides compete
Behan warnings unheeded
Temperance was needed
Confusion of the moment
Dissuation of the opponent
Lies and fabrication
Inflamatory damnation
The slowest succumb
The faster just numb
Argue over the blame
A deadly game
Shoot-out in Tombstone
The talk all around
A century and a half
From the Tombstone Epitaph
Preliminary hearing
In Spicer's court, swearing
Cowboy prosecution bumbles
Earp defense humbles
Earps acquitted
Cowboys out-witted
Tombstone divided
Ike's fate decided
Dead at Wyatt's hand
Did Ike understand
Two more hunted down
Wyatt has to leave town
Silver mines go bust
Wyatt's guns rust
Josephine at his side
Old man Wyatt finally died
In Spicer's court, swearing
Cowboy prosecution bumbles
Earp defense humbles
Earps acquitted
Cowboys out-witted
Tombstone divided
Ike's fate decided
Dead at Wyatt's hand
Did Ike understand
Two more hunted down
Wyatt has to leave town
Silver mines go bust
Wyatt's guns rust
Josephine at his side
Old man Wyatt finally died
© 2025 Brian McNeal
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COWBOY SOLILOQUY
I've been on desert trails out west
Scoured deep long before I was born
Places where Geronimo took a rest
Seen Saguaros majestic and centuries worn
Ridden through canyons narrow
So tight a horse can't back it
Stung by an Apache arrow
Or maybe just a pesky yellow jacket
The water barrel from Earp's camp
Rooted out by a traveling band of Havalina
Found someone's old kerosene lamp
Probably from their desert cantina
Skirted 'round rattlers as thick as my arm
Seen the desert moon from horseback
Gone to war with a Texas-sized ant farm
Rode 'long side top hands and a few sad sacks.
Even when the summer sun is doing battle
Or the winter wind blows a chilly curse
The desert view from the saddle
Is like nothing else on earth
© 2024 Brian McNeal
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TRAIL SPOILER
Riding down desert trails
The mind begins to wander
Does the desert ever ponder
If it could, would it tell the tales
Who rode here long ago?
I imagine they thought the same
And guessed at the name
Like me, they wanted to know
Where were they going
What was their reason
What year, what season
Was their intent showing
A gambler on the run
A preacher on the circuit
From Wickenburg to Prescott
Or just a mule ridden by a nun
I imagine all sorts of scenarios
While riding desert trails alone
Straddling the gentle roan
Marveling at the desert curios
My mind is long ago and far away
Transported by imagination
And overactive desert vegetation
It's easy to let your thoughts go astray
Then I'm jerked back to reality quick
Rudely, aggressively, without consideration
One who rode here before was the causation
Right on the trail was her tube of hot pink lipstick
© 2024 Brian McNeal
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THE BATTLE FOR CATTLE
The battle for cattle
Room for grazing and raising
A wide open range with something strange
Some weep for the sheep
Cattle barons and kids with errands
Stockmen detectives with different perspectives
Gun sights and bar fights
A hired gun on the run
The first have no thirst
The rest get second best
He was born a Horn
He tried, but he died
Too late for the gate
Time changed the range
Pimpled Nickell backshot
Danged if Horn wasn't hanged.
© 2024 Brian McNeal
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SAVED BY CIRCUMSTANCES
We were going to be married
I went over to see her at her house
Her sister answered the door
Wearing a very skimpy blouse
No she wasn't at home just today
Matter of fact sister was all alone
In a sexy voice, wanted me to play
Just her and me upstairs getting prone
I couldn't believe my ears
I took off running for my pickup
Then I heard the cheers
The whole family in the doorway like a roundup
Dad said it was only a test
To see if I could honor his girl
I was trying to do my best
My mind was in a whirl
Let them think they had good luck
I'll never tell a soul what I tell you
Just then I'd remembered out in the truck
Was my stash of little pills of blue
© 2023 Brian McNeal
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MIDDLE OF THE ROAD
Life passes us by while we're trying to catch up.
No matter how fast we run or how far we go,
Regrets are just waiting to fill our cup.
We should learn to just say "whoa"
The opportunities missed while rushing ahead,
May count against us in the final score.
For every thing we pride, we'll have two or three to dread.
Rushing into the future shuts the past behind a closed door.
When there just ain't nothin' better to do
Why worry about the size or weight of your load
Just let it go for a moment or two
Have a seat with some good pals in the middle of the road.
© 2024 Brian McNeal
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A WICKENBURG WONDERThere is nothing so majestic as a Saguaro 200 years oldApart from a stand of hundreds giving the landscape a strangleholdBut, I'll bet I can top that vision with another one of nature's charmsHow 'bout an early morning view with fresh snow on their armsSnow in the desert is about as rare as painite in a pawn shopBut once you witness the wonder, you just gotta stopWhatever you're doing, you can't help but marvel at the viewAs the snow quickly melts and turns into morning dewWickenburg in the winter, only once in my lifetimeSnow on the cactus is a heavenly sight on a horseback rideLong before every phone had a camera setupThe only pictures I have are in my mind's backupThere's nothing so majestic as a two-hundred year-old SaguaroExcept one covered over with the first fallen snowA sight you'll not soon forget, if you live only half it's ageA miraculous coat of white covering the Saguaro's rib cage
© 2025 Brian McNeal
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A PARACHUTE AND A PLAN
A man named Dan with a parachute and a plan
Up in the air with a fantastic dare
Could he pull it off and escape the man?
Pull the ripcord, Dan, and float down through the air.
What happened to Dan, who wasn't Dan at all?
D.B. is what the media claimed by error
Who would know as he made his ten thousand foot fall?
A daring maneuver for an ordinary wayfarer
Like a vapor from a contrail in the sky
He disappeared and has never been found
No money ever spent, but some spotted, by and by
Did he die in the air or sometime after he hit the ground?
Five months later, along comes alias James Johnson
With a similar M.O. and familiar look
Coincidence is likely, but too many details in common,
Make it probable that D.B. and James are the same crook
The F.B.I. had suspicions, and a hotline tip led to a suspect
Richard McCoy, a former Green Beret, was arrested
He never admitted he was D.B., and the F.B.I. couldn't detect
He was found guilty, and the verdict was contested
He began to serve his time while he waited for his appeal
All the while he had his eye on a backup plan
With other inmates, he worked out an escape deal
"You can't hold me," is what McCoy told the man
True to his word, he escaped with his gang
Avoiding capture at every turn
Committing more crimes after they sprang
Ninety days of freedom, and they were burned
Ratted out by people in the area
Investigation showed it to be the likely hideout
F.B.I. ambush with McCoy killed in the hysteria
Leaving the identity of D.B. Cooper in doubt
The secret of D.B. Cooper went to the grave
No one will ever know his true name
A folk hero smart and brave
The man who gave D.B. Cooper all the fame
A man named Dan with a parachute and a plan
Up in the air with a fantastic dare
Could he pull it off and escape the man?
Pull the ripcord, Dan, and float down through the air.
What happened to Dan, who wasn't Dan at all?
D.B. is what the media claimed by error
Who would know as he made his ten thousand foot fall?
A daring maneuver for an ordinary wayfarer
Like a vapor from a contrail in the sky
He disappeared and has never been found
No money ever spent, but some spotted, by and by
Did he die in the air or sometime after he hit the ground?
Five months later, along comes alias James Johnson
With a similar M.O. and familiar look
Coincidence is likely, but too many details in common,
Make it probable that D.B. and James are the same crook
The F.B.I. had suspicions, and a hotline tip led to a suspect
Richard McCoy, a former Green Beret, was arrested
He never admitted he was D.B., and the F.B.I. couldn't detect
He was found guilty, and the verdict was contested
He began to serve his time while he waited for his appeal
All the while he had his eye on a backup plan
With other inmates, he worked out an escape deal
"You can't hold me," is what McCoy told the man
True to his word, he escaped with his gang
Avoiding capture at every turn
Committing more crimes after they sprang
Ninety days of freedom, and they were burned
Ratted out by people in the area
Investigation showed it to be the likely hideout
F.B.I. ambush with McCoy killed in the hysteria
Leaving the identity of D.B. Cooper in doubt
The secret of D.B. Cooper went to the grave
No one will ever know his true name
A folk hero smart and brave
The man who gave D.B. Cooper all the fame
© 2025 Brian McNeal
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