[Rick Buoy, cowboy poet]

Folks, I'm not a preacher,
but if you'd allow me to be bold,
I have a little story
and I think it needs to be told.
A story about a little boy
and a horse that his daddy raised
with toughness and compassion
and of other qualities praised.
His daddy died
when that colt was two.
It was tall and tough and lean,
a stocking-footed buckskin
with an extra dose of mean.

When you think back, you think to the fun things, that good ride, that wild ride, you know, the horse that did this. You don't think about the time when the horse comes out of the shoot and it's where everybody has walked by in front of the shoot, and he pitches you 15-foot in the air and you land flat on your back. You don't remember that. You remember the good stuff.

[R.P. Smith, cowboy poet] There are people that have told me well, there aren't really cowboys anymore. There aren't people that make their living like you claim to be. Hey, I'm still out there, and I know a lot of other folks are. And rather than just doing poetry from a historical standpoint, for me, it's everyday life.

[Maggie Mae Sharp, cowboy poet] The men have one story to tell and the women have another story to tell, and each are equally important because the men and the women settled the west together. And it takes a team to run a ranch or a farm. Country western music, they say you know what do you get if you play that backwards? And you get your wife back and your dog back and you get out of jail and mama quits drinking. They sound more like city problems.

[Bouy] Can I say crap? It's not country music, it's pop that they're putting in to say well, it's country and getting people to like it. But I suppose country music probably burns me about as much as anything, what they call country anymore.

But my wife and I, we checked it out
this place where you need no date.
You just jump in line and push your tush
and leave your night to fate.
This dude walks up in a cheap black hat,
and he said his name was Fred,
was fire engine red.
He puffed up when he looked at me.
He says, you ain't no cowboy, buster.
Says, I can tell by the clothes you wear,
because you ain't wearing no duster.
And I didn't get real angry,
but you could say I was offended.
This dude doesn't know how close he come
to having to get his duster mended.
I've got an oil skin on my porch,
and it's not plum or pink,
but I can't wear it dancing
because my wife can't stand the stink.
The whole right side it's been shellacked
from mouthing the boss's beef,
and the hole underneath this pocket from
an ornery buckskin's teeth.
A pocket ripped right off the front
from carrying the baby calf
and half moon little scuff marks
where his ma ran up my back.
There's dirt and mud on the bottom hem,
along with greener stuff.
There's shiny spot right over here
where I wipe my nose on the cuff.
The snaps is ripped right off the front
when it hooked on that saddle horn
that time I got bucked off that colt
that I was feeding too much corn.
Maybe I should buy a new one, but,
you know, folks, times is tough,
besides I'm not sure I could wear it,
maybe I ain't cowboy enough.

[Georgie Sicking] I had a dream when I was small. I wanted to be a good enough hand to hold down a job on a cowboy outfit in spite of being a girl in a country where they didn't ride mares and they didn't hire women.

[Smith] Some people, you say cowboy and they think of the guy that's doing the Marlboro commercials, and you say cowboy and they think of the guy that's in the bar with his hat on causing trouble. You say cowboy to me, and that's not what comes to mind. It's somebody that's making a living and dealing with whatever gets thrown at them that day.

[Sicking]

When I was young and foolish,
women said to me,
take off those spurs and comb your hair
if a lady you would be.
Forget about those cowboy ways
and come and sit a while,
and we will try to clue you in
on women's ways and whiles.
Take off that Levi jumper
and put up that those wing chaps.
Put on a little makeup
and we can get a date for you, perhaps.
Forget about that roping.
That makes callouses on your hands.
And you know it takes soft fingers
if you want to catch a man.
Do away with that Stetson hat
because that will press your curls.
And even the homely cowboy
wouldn't date a straight-haired girl.
Now being young and foolish,
I went my merry way.
Guess I never wore a dress
until my wedding day.
Now I tell my children,
no matter what you do,
stand up straight and tall,
be you and only you.
Where if the Lord had meant us
all to be alike and the same rules to keep,
he would have banded us together
just like a flock of sheep.

[Sharp] I say that God is probably a number one component in any rancher's life. There isn't any one of these fellows that doesn't have a good relationship with the good Lord, because we believe that he gave us this land and this country and the cattle upon it and each other to love.

[Smith]

On the ranch
it's where decisions are made
of a life been lived
and dues been paid.
Wherever an animal is judged
to determine its fate
by the hand that swings the sortin' gate.
Now boys, I'm no sky pilot.
I punch cows to draw my pay.
But I believe there's a reason
the Lord has allowed
our trails to cross today.
I don't understand life's mysteries,
but one thing I can state
when we go to that last roundup,
there will be a sortin' gate.
See, we're created by a perfect God
who can tolerate no sin
and only those that ride for Jesus' brand,
heaven's gate will enter in.
Because God made him who hath no sin
to beat the sin for us
so that through him we might become
his own righteousness.
And the price was paid upon the cross
for our victory in the end.
No greater love has any man
than to give his life for a friend.
And Jesus said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father but through me.
And the devil and his legions, well,
they're spreading pain and strife
and they're saying it's all a lie.
Boys, wait and see.
So we prepare a horse for battle
but victory is for the Lord.
Open up his book and study his word
and it will be your sword.
Not all who are crying out Lord, Lord
are living by his ways,
and their hepers are just as black
as the mavericks and slicks and strays.
Now the sheep they'll enter through the gate.
The goats still haven't learned.
The chaff it's sorted from the drain.
The chaff will all be burned.
If you're wondering aboutmy motives,
I'm just talking as a friend,
because I care which way that gate swings
when we reach the trail's end.
So, cowboy, open up your heart and let your Savior in,
because the cards are stacked against you,
and without him, you can't win.

[Sicking] Made my rating as a cowboy on that outfit. And then -- it wasn't quite as satisfying as I expected it to be, and I thought, well, there's something missing. Then I thought, well, stupid, you want to be a mother. So then I had my first child.

[Sharp]

He don't like my cooking.
Says that he can do better,
but he ain't never around.
Says he appreciates my beauty,
my style, and my grace,
but he never appreciates nothing
that he puts in his face.
He says my potatoes can chink up the barn
and we can burn cubes in my coffee
to keep us all warm.
Says my gravy will build a mighty fine dam
or cement some fence posts
or make a Christmas tree sand.
Says we could drop my tater salad
on old Saddam Hussein
and make that boy run for cover.
Talk about your acid rain.
Yep, he don't like my cookin',
and he thinks it might get better
with his constant complaining
and moaning and such.
Guess he's got a mighty long wait.
And, you know, it's too bad
he's never tasted the food off of my plate,
because revenge is sweeter than
the best chocolate cake.

[Bouy] I try to figure out what's so great about Hillary Clinton, because any woman can talk but you take some of these ranchers' wives. Now they can walk the walk. You know, my wife goes out and rides horse and help get cows in. I've seen her castrate a calf in her life. It's stuff that women say, ooh, you know. She's not a lone person out there. She knows that there's other women that do the same thing.

[Sicking] I've done a lot of things. I've lived. But on the other hand, I've raised kids. I've walked the floors with babies. I nursed my babies. And so I think I've lived a sort of a double life but double full.

[Sharp] It's the most amazing thing you've ever seen that one of these old grizzled fellows that you'd think wouldn't have an ounce of compassion in him can walk up to an angry horse that's hurt or just plain old outlaw and just by the sheer touch of his hand, the compassion will flow through him.

[Bouy] My ideal day is a day I don't have to start a pickup or tractor. I can do everything on foot or on a horse and not run any equipment. The main reason is because it's quiet, and I can hear myself think.