Billy The Kid (chapter 117)

 

from this week in 1969  (I was 24)

 

  
Billy The Kid (chapter 117)

Hey, Billy the Kid,

you’ve got dust on your shirt.

Dust on boots is understandable

and you’ve plenty of that,

but on your shirt?

 

If you stopped just outside of town

to blotch it on,

I’m disappointed.

 

It doesn’t look blotched,

but maybe you’ve done it before

and know how to get it on just right.

 

At any rate, I’d rather believe your are real

standing there without a hat

at the water trough.

 

I guess your nickname had never before

stuck in my mind;

it will from now on.

You are a kid,

or maybe I’ve grown old.

 

In how many other places like this

have you stopped at a trough

to soak your neck cloth,

and how many times have you mounted

and ridden on with a quick nod to a man

who may have grown old?