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Cowboy
by Linda Wikene Johnson
I wanted to ride
wild horses
break my bones
I thought my sex
would change when I grew up
I rolled
mental cigarettes
wore high-heeled boots
and dreamed of riding the
hills
night's silent mountains
listening for me
quiet songs sung to
the stars
the northern lights
flickering pale lonely fire
in my
eyes
the valleys opening their hands
to let me in
daybreaks
considered on horseback
frost in my hair
cattle tended on the spine
of the Cariboo
the ribs of the world
I wanted to be a cowboy
then
a poet without the need
for words |