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Open Poetry #9
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Kethry
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-07-29
Posts 9082
Victoria Australia

0 posted 2000-08-31 10:34 AM


This poem was incited errr inspired by Long John who didn't want his name mentioned. Kethry

Toerag came to Arkansaw
Just to join the tribe
And those lonesome cowboys
Thought to take him for a ride.

Toerag strolled up to the bar
And put his money down
How do I join this here, group
I'm a stranger in this town

Civilians started sniggering
Cowboys placed their bets
This was to be the greatest joke
On poor old Toerag Fretts

They offered up a challenge
Disguised by parts of three
To be part of this tribe you must
Accept it gleefully.

The first challenge was a drinking one
Two bottles of straight gin
The second was to make love to
the lass who lived within

The third the greatest challenge
Toerag must take care
The third and final challenge
To shoot a grizzly bear.

Toerag nodded sagely
How hard could that be
Drink the gin, woo the girl
And shoot the Grizzly

Done and done said Toerag
As laughter flooded forth
Two empty bottles later
Toerag zig zagged to the north.

The laughter swept behind him
The bets were all called in
When one old pioneer sighed
"That's the last we'll see of him."

Hours and hours later
Toerag was back in  town
His eyes were bloodshot, bleary
His face, it was cast down

His skin was scratched and bloody
He only had one boot
Then he opened up his mouth and said
"Where's that woman I'm to shoot."


< !signature-->

"It is the image in the mind that links us to lost treasures;
but it is the loss that shapes the image,
gathers the flowers weaves the garland."-




[This message has been edited by Kethry (edited 09-01-2000).]

© Copyright 2000 Lynne Dale - All Rights Reserved
Meadowmuse
Member Elite
since 1999-12-27
Posts 3263

1 posted 2000-08-31 10:38 AM


~ Hysterical ~

~ Claire

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?......Henry David Thoreau


SEA
Deputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 5 Tours
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 2000-01-18
Posts 22676
with you
2 posted 2000-08-31 10:56 AM


Kethry~ This is SO FUNNY!My sides hurt from laughing..... -SEA

Live,Love,Laugh :) ~SueB


Mark Bohannan
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-06-21
Posts 7269
In the winds of Cherokee song
3 posted 2000-08-31 11:02 AM


Excellent....you are definitely in the same class with the others.ROFL...wonderful
sonjes
Senior Member
since 2000-02-18
Posts 564
North Carolina
4 posted 2000-08-31 11:30 AM


Oh...Too funny!!!  I enjoyed every verse.  Smiles much needed today.  
Kethry
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-07-29
Posts 9082
Victoria Australia
5 posted 2000-08-31 04:22 PM


Meadowmuse. Glad you liked it

SEA. Thank you for the smiley.

Mark Bonahan. Thank you for the kind words. I don't know about class, I would have said species.  

Sonjes. Thanks so much. Glad I brightened your morning.

BTW does anyone know who Toerag is?    

Kethry
< !signature-->

"It is the image in the mind that links us to lost treasures;
but it is the loss that shapes the image,
gathers the flowers weaves the garland."-


[This message has been edited by Kethry (edited 08-31-2000).]

Sunnyone
Member Ascendant
since 2000-07-06
Posts 5334
Staffordshire, England
6 posted 2000-09-01 03:28 AM


  
  Hi Kethry.....

       This sounds like something that Alaskans would be interested in!!!   We have the 3B's up here..."Booze, Broads, and Bears"
(No nasty letters please.....it's not my choice of words!!!  Ha!!!)


Today is a gift....
That is why they call it
'the Present'!



Kethry
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-07-29
Posts 9082
Victoria Australia
7 posted 2000-09-01 05:38 AM


Sunny1, the joke was originally set in Alaska but I couldn't think of an appropriate town with the right number of syllables at two in the morning. Hence Houston, now Arkansaw.
Hope you liked the poem.

Be well
Kethry
< !signature-->

"It is the image in the mind that links us to lost treasures;
but it is the loss that shapes the image,
gathers the flowers weaves the garland."-


[This message has been edited by Kethry (edited 09-01-2000).]

Eilidh
Junior Member
since 2000-08-27
Posts 30

8 posted 2000-09-01 08:29 AM


A new twist on an old joke.  Very Funny  

"There are times in life a kindred spirit comes along. Hold onto those people. They are what makes this life worth living."- Anon

LngJhnAg
Member Elite
since 1999-07-23
Posts 3508
Boot+Kitty=Poetry in motion
9 posted 2000-09-01 12:22 PM


Kethry

This, I know for a fact, is a true story, but you have included one MAJOR inconsistency *heh heh* - Toerag would NEVER need two bottles of gin to become amorous with a grizzly, unless (of course) he used the gin to woo the grizzly.  After all, grizzlies may be mean, vicious, ugly, tempermental, but they DO have standards *grin*.

You've written this TRUE story very well, saving the punch line for the last.  And, I suspect, you probably had fun writing the story in rhyme.  After all, why do we like writing poetry?  Because its fun!

I often use old stories to help me overcome a very tempermental muse - the storyline is already developed, but the actual telling is up to me.  Unlike many of the poets who frequent the Forums, I'm not very prolific when it comes to writing original material.  I need somebody to challenge me with a specific subject in order to really write something original.  That's one of the things I like about that rascally Balladeer and the ever-lovely Liz Santos.  They have tremendous talent which includes originality.

Now - as to Toerag - He's our usual foil because, when he can come in here, he reacts so well in his sometimes colorful responses.  You can find a lot of his poetry back in the earlier pages of Open and Adults.  Circumstances have taken him away from here for awhile, but I'm sure he will return.  As a matter of fact, I introduced him to Forums right after I found this site a little over a year ago.  I've known him for almost three years now, and he is quite a guy.  

Kethry
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-07-29
Posts 9082
Victoria Australia
10 posted 2000-09-01 05:31 PM


Thank you Eilidh, Do I know you? email me if yes.

Long John thanks for all that info, now that you've got me started I'll have to consider my next target errr victim errr honorary

Kethry


"It is the image in the mind that links us to lost treasures;
but it is the loss that shapes the image,
gathers the flowers weaves the garland."-

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