Cowboys and Lobos

Ed Keenan, cowboy poet

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Nature Poems

Cowboys and Lobos

Hated for years by the cowboy
No love lost between either,
In the life of the lobo and cowboy
Who’s the protector and who the eater?

Tightenin the circle on calf or fawn
Like a cowboy circling the herd,
Wolves cut ‘em out like a good cowdog
Without whistlin or hollerin a word.

Like cowboys ropin and heelin
Trottin in with a sideways lope,
Teamin up on a sickly calf or stray
Bringin ‘em down without a rope.

Is it the crafty knack of a lobo pack
Or the teamwork of two cowboys?
Pickin out the one from a high point
Sizing up the herd and cow noise?

The wolf leaves a ghostly shadow
His howl is a haunting wail,
It’s about like a cowboy singin
Of life on the lonesome trail.

It’s hide stripped and all flayed out
Butcherin a steer on the ground,
Hangin the meat in a dugout cooler
The lobo buries his like a hound.

The wolf eats his meat at nightfall
The cowboy rare beef for dinner,
Like Darwin’s survival of the fittest
A full belly makes both a winner.

Hangin jerky on a barb wire fence
Like a shrike impalin a lizard,
A crafty lobo and the skilled cowboy
Share a lot of common gizzard.

When thinning the herd for better stock
The cowboy cuts out the surplus,
The lobo takes out the stray and cripple
Each engaged in a higher purpose.

The ecologist wants the wolves back
To the cowboy it’s a mistake,
Who’s the protector and who the eater?
They all want a T-bone steak!