The day was nearly over, starting out at early sun.
Each horse was fed and watered. They were worn and all but done.
The cowboys trudged while walking. Said, “Our legs feel just like lead.”
So, they shuffled to the green cook tent in hopes of getting fed.
The green cook tent had seen its share of blood from years gone by.
Where medics patched up soldiers, in hopes they wouldn’t die.
The cloth was torn and tattered, not so pleasant at first glance.
But now it housed the cowboys. It deserved another chance.
The cold night air was frigid but inside the green cook tent,
was hotter than blue blazes from the wood stove’s open vent.
Soon enough the tent would hear the cowboys spinning tales a
nd offering heaps of wisdom with embellishing details.
Inside the makeshift kitchen, t-bones waited patiently,
next to the baked potatoes our cook had wrapped so carefully.
The smell of red-eye gravy put each nose up in the air.
One cowboy said, “I’m ‘bout as hungry as a grizzly bear!”
The air was full of hungry chatter thick enough to slice.
They were waiting for permission and no need to ask them twice.
One humble hungry cowboy offered grace upon the meal.
Now the feast would be devoured with hyena cowboy zeal!
The cowboys grabbed their plates and then the nod came from the cook.
The frenzy jumped up to the food like fishes to a hook.
Loud voices were replaced by sounds of clinking cutlery.
Each cowboy was engrossed and ate with quiet intensity.
With bellies full the cowboys pulled out cookies from a jar.
One cowboy sang some George Strait music played from his guitar.
The cook recited poetry. Another told a tale
of an uncle selling whiskey, how it cost him time in jail.
The cowboys sat there smiling, spirits full with plumb content,
while surrounded in the arms of the old army green cook tent.
Then one by one each cowboy stood and walked out in the night.
The last one tied the tent flap door with square knots nice and tight.
The green cook tent was empty but for only just a while.
‘Cuz breakfast was now certain. How that made the old tent smile.
