The Rider

Setting out to see the world

he left at just fifteen,

said goodbye to Montana home

to live a life of dreams

His life was just a voyage

a journey toward himself

discovering who he was inside

not pigeon holed or shelved

Seaman, soldier, boxer

poet, cowboy and sage

Living a life of experience

putting words upon a page

He rode alone along this land

and saw the things he told

digging deep into himself

he found the mother lode.

I learned of him as a small boy

and quickly yearned to know

the truth behind his weathered eye

what truths to me might show

Now I’ve come full circle

and I know that it was hard

for him to learn the things he did

but he gave my joy a start.