Prologue
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Horses and Cows,
Come on in and grab a seat by the campfire. It’s a stressful world out there filled with traffic, pollution, and concerns about everything the human mind can imagine. So take a few minutes and relax, smell the smoke, ride the range, and enjoy the work (or more accurately “the play”) of cowboy poet J. Douglas Hinds.
Arizona Cowboy is the name of this column, and every month we’re proud to publish at least one poem from a collection that Hinds has written over the years. Editor
How the Grand Canyon Was Formed
By J. Douglas Hinds
His old bed roll felt mighty good
As he laid on a grassy spot
He watched the embers from the fire
Beneath the coffee pot
His horse was tired and so was he
They both had done their best
He’d found a dozen lonely strays
And they all were need’n rest
Another six miles to look out point
He’d push them there by noon
Better get some shut eye now
Tomorrow will be here soon
And somewhere in the dark of night
A distant coyote was heard
And he slowly drifted off to sleep
Without a discouragjn word
And layin’ there a sawin’ logs
He had a cowboy dream
He dreamt he had ten thousand head
More than he’d ever seen
And a thousand riders ridin’ hard
Strung out for a hundred miles
And ever man was mounted up
In all the latest styles
He overlooked the cattle drive
From high upon a hill
And every cow and every calf
Worth a thousand dollar bill
And then a storm began to boil
And lightening began to crack
And then the herd just broke and ran
They couldn’t hold them back
But the trail they left can still be seen
In the Arizona sand
It runs for miles wide and deep
It’s called the Canyon Grand
And then he woke to twelve ole cows
And knew he’d had a dream
It seemed so real at the time
But it’s never what it seems
He saddled up at first daylight
And mounted his trusty steed
Well actually she’s just an old gray mare
But that was a real stampede
***
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