Lone Star

Poem by Rocco Valentini

Artwork Sourced from Pinterest. Artist: Norman Saunders.

Lone Star

by Antonio Rocco S. (Rocco Valentini)

Sharp minds wear hard faces;
Strong arms bear calloused hands.
Both are examples of the traces
Left by the spirit of a great man.

A great man is no grave robber;
He doesn't stake his reputation on dead kin.
Be a man of integrity and honor,
For your birth is where your frontier begins.

Don’t abandon your part;
Resist the call of the sirens.
Never trade your ace of hearts
For an ace of diamonds.

Even if you ride as a lone ranger,
Never throw away your star,
For you are always in danger
From desperados bearing their own scars.

There will never be peace;
Crooked men must learn their lesson.
Iniquity will only ever cease
When you draw your Smith & Wesson.

There is nothing beyond this town,
No heaven or hell—death is a desert of night.
Don’t let desperados turn your town
Into a desert of daylight.