George M. Noblitt

THE STRANGER

 

The stranger walked through the saloon's swinging doors

Trail tired, hot, dry and thirsty

He stepped up to the bar as he checked out the room

There's no movement his eyes didn't see

 

Weary from all the times in the past

He shields his back with the wall

Then he drinks his fill from a whiskey bottle

And starts to walk from the hall

 

As he rounded the bar he bumped a young cowboy

Knocking his beer to the floor

"I beg your pardon" spoke the tall stranger

"I'll buy to even the score"

 

The young cowboy now flustered was mad as hell

He called for the stranger to draw

But the stranger kept walking and never turned back

'Til the young cowboy's language turned raw

 

The cowboy bragged of his speed with a gun

And how he'd never been beaten

He'd killed six men in a fair fight

Shot one in the back for card cheatin'

 

The stranger turned slowly to face the cowboy

He smiled and began to speak

"Young cowboy, let's part like two old friends

Gunplay's not what I would seek"

 

Words alone were not what the cowboy had sought

As he tethers down his holster

Then he squared his shoulders, as he straightens his hat

And gathered all the courage he could bolster

 

Two men facing each other as they both toy with death

Now ready to make the kill

Surely they can't use such meaningless reason

As a simple barroom spill

 

The stanger stood waiting, but didn't wait long

As the cowboy drew faster than lightening

It was his hesitation that plagued the stranger

Oft' times death's selection is frightening