Sunday, June 23, 2024

From Lonesome Dove: The Hanging of Jake Spoon - poem

 

Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

The Hanging of Jake Spoon

 

Nothing in his life / Became him like the leaving it

 

Macbeth I.iiii.7-8

 

At dusk. Heat. Heat and dust. Jake’s last slow ride

Words through a fog of fear, last words, slow words

Old pals and dead enemies on either side

Slow cooings and callings from unseen prairie birds

 

Smooth Jake, always good for a laugh and a drink

A ladies’ man, a gamblin’ man, a man of charm

Unreliable, yes, not one to pause and think

Tho’ he never meant nobody no harm

 

He suddenly spurred his pacer, making amends

His moment of nobility, to spare his friends

 

 

Lonesome Dove can be said to be The National Book of Texas.

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