He’s a true plainsman
With dreams bigger than the town
And when the city limits expand
The plains dwindle down.
There used to be bison on those plains
But they vanished years ago
Then so did the rains
With the water in the arroyo.
He can see the ghosts of cattle
In herds of ten thousand head
Now there’s no more than the rattle
Of a snake in this homestead.
There’re no fences in his mind
Outside there’s wire running every mile
The unbounded country was lined,
Developed, and made infertile.
The prairie land
Once unpenned
Waves wheat like a hand
To an early untimely end.
His last sight of the plain
Is with a helpless glance
Like the land is a missed train
Vanishing in the distance.
