Cowboy Joe

by Sue Ellen Thompson

had no Tonto
or Dale

his only companion
a nameless horse

but held my younger
brothers enthralled

nightlight glowing
like an ember.

Across the hall
homework done

I’d hear my father’s
bedtime voice

a little gravelly
from smoking

& knew this meant
that Cowboy Joe

was heading out
to rescue a calf

trapped in a gulch
or a rancher’s wife

pinning shirts on the line
when a cloud

of Indians descended.
Too old to climb

in bed with them
I’d turn my gooseneck

desk lamp off
& wait for him

to saddle his horse
reins slack at first

then gathered up short
as he galloped away

from the life
he had known

as a small town
businessman, father

to five &
a beagle named Jenny.