Well I’ve lived in this Montana country
guess it’s been pert near fourteen years
I call myself a cowboy though I ain’t
roped a horse or branded no steers

Ain’t broke me no fiery eyed wild stallion
pushed cattle across open land
never fended off a mountain lion
or killed a grizz with my bare hands

I ain’t wrangled some ornery rustlers
with my rifle and colt six gun
or spent winter alone in a line shack
or been in a bar fight just for fun

But I got me a hat, some chaps and spurs
went and watched me a rodeo
I learned that to be a real life cowboy
is more than putting on a show

Don’t need to wear a Montana slope hat
to live the good old cowboy way
It’s more about how you respect the land
and always mean just what you say

You believe in traditions and honor
love, nature, honesty and song
A person who follows his commitments
though he may have to ride alone

If you want to be a cowboy my friend
then it’s having the fortitude
to stick to convictions and do what’s right
That is the cowboy’s attitude

Jerry Brotherton
Prairie Time – a coolection of poems and prose
copywright 2020