poem
Volume 35, Number 2

Western Abecedarium

The western is ambush. The western is American. The western is arrow. The western is badge. The western is bandanna. The western is baron. The western is blacksmith. The western is blood. The western is bordello. The western is boulder. The western is bounty. The western is buffalo. The western is bullet. The western is campfire. The western is cattle. The western is Christian. The western is cowboy. The western is cuss. The western is deal. The western is debt. The western is destiny. The western is dirt. The western is distance. The western is drifter. The western is endless. The western is flint. The western is frontier. The western is gambling. The western is gavel. The western is gunpowder. The western is handkerchief. The western is handshake. The western is headdress. The western is heigh-ho. The western is highwayman. The western is holster. The western is homestead. The western is honor. The western is horse. The western is Indian. The western is jail. The western is Kansas. The western is kidnapping. The western is kindling. The western is landscape. The western is law. The western is lawlessness. The western is liquor. The western is locomotive. The western is lookout. The western is madam. The western is money. The western is mountain. The western is noble. The western is Oklahoma. The western is outlaw. The western is palomino. The western is pioneer. The western is pinto. The western is pokerface. The western is posse. The western is preacher. The western is ranch. The western is rape. The western is rattlesnake. The western is relentless. The western is revenge. The western is rifle. The western is river. The western is robbery. The western is rope. The western is rustler. The western is saddle. The western is saloon. The western is sanctity. The western is savage. The western is schoolmarm. The western is scruff. The western is sheriff. The western is shootout. The western is showdown. The western is stagecoach. The western is sky. The western is spats. The western is spit. The western is spurs. The western is squaw. The western is stampede. The western is sweat. The western is tepee. The western is Texas. The western is thirst. The western is Tonto. The western is trail. The western is Trigger. The western is tumbleweed. The western is uh-huh. The western is undertaker. The western is vengeance. The western is wagon. The western is warpaint. The western is whore. The western is widow. The western is wife. The western is xenophobic. The western is yep-sheriff-we-shore-got-’im. The western is Zane Grey. The western needs to die and never come back. No more smoke signals. The only frontier left is ignorance.


—Raymond Luczak