A Cowboy’s Soul

Off like a bullet when the last bell blasted
on the last hour of the last day of school.
He wasn’t like the others, college-bound cookie cutters...
he had a bad taste for pretense and rules.
Hired on at the V-Bar outside of Green River,
grinned a “goodbye” and let the gravel fly.
Sometimes young dreams need a tank of gasoline
and a ribbon of highway to drive.
Rope the wind while you can kid, take it all in.
One look at you and I know...you wanna make a life, not just make a livin’;
you’ll go where you wanna go...
‘cause you’ve got a cowboy’s soul.
There’s somethin’ ‘bout cattle and time in the saddle,
that makes you a fool or a king.
That kid got tougher, his rough edges got rougher...
he was a swaggerin’, sunburnt nineteen.
The lessons he learned and the wages he earned
on the V-Bar, he made a hand.
His American dream, a little wilder it seems than the one his mama had planned.