Ode to a Cowboy
You insist you’d rather be a ghost
Wandering untethered from one place to the next
And I think maybe I used to believe that too.
But I also think that people can be resting places
Soft spots to land, to hang up your hat
And be washed of the day’s dust.
A soft spot can be hard to show
Because that’s where the arrows find you
And leave you with scars that sparkle like spurs.
In the five o clock shadows and seven o clock sunsets
We lend the pieces of ourselves we can afford to lose
Until we are tangled together like so many old reins.
I think if there is a god
He makes cowboys two of a kind
And scatters them over the desert in the hot sand.
The chances of finding each other
Before the animals do are slim
But maybe this is the oasis.
Ashley Halm (she/they) is a senior at SUNY Fredonia double majoring in theater arts and English with a minor in creative writing. Originally from Corning, New York, Ashley’s writing interests include poetry, flash fiction, and playwriting. In her sparse spare time, she enjoys cooking, making art, and reading.