Red Steagall: New and Selected Poems

Bedroll

-11Bedroll There’s a hole in the wagonsheet big as my head Where coosie run under a tree. Last week it rained and poured right in that hole Probably nobody noticed but me. ’Cause that was the mornin’ I jingled the horses It rained and my bed was just fine. But it was the first one to go in the wagon And the rest of ’em stacked up on mine. Last winter we put a new floor in that wagon We planked it with tongue and groove oak. She’s tight as a drum and won’t leak a drop So the bed on the bottom got soaked. Now canvas is good about turnin’ the dew As long as it’s stretched the right way. But I guess something happens, it sorta breaks down Sittin’ in water all day. Your bed’s usually warm and a nice place to be A cowpuncher’s private domain. But it’s colder ’n hell in a bedroll that’s wet You’re better off out in the rain. So I put on my slicker and sat by the fire Burned all the dry wood in the stack. The fire made me drowsy—once I dozed off And woke up in the mud, on my back. Just before sunup I crawled in that bed Couldn’t sleep ’cause my feet were so numb. Then coosie was cussin’ I burned all his wood So I got up and gathered him some. -12Now I ain’t one to argue and create a fuss And I don’t get my head in a fog. But it’s taken a week for me to get her dried out And last night I slept like a log. This mornin’ it’s thunderin’ and carryin’ on It’s already startin’ to rain. And I know for a fact coosie ain’t fixed that hole And I ain’t goin’ through that again. Everyone’s saddled and ready to ride Except me and I’ll be here a while. I want to make sure when they load up the wagon My bed’s on the top of the pile. 1989 ...