Saddlebag Dispatches—Autumn/Winter 2019

Old Cactus Charlie passed on yesterday Way up in the mountains in his hide away He’d gotten his name from his poor riding skill And a fall into cactus that bothered him still He wasn’t a bad guy, just a little bit slow The law didn’t want him, but he didn’t know You see Charlie had lifted from old Marshal Tim A bright silver clip with some money within He feared he’d be hung for a crime big as that So he hid in the mountains with his mule and his cat But the marshal just thought he had lost that old clip And over the years from his memory it slipped Some years ago, he had even left town If Charlie had known, well, he could have come down But he found him a place with a jaw-dropping view And them that knew of it just numbered a few And he had some “buddies” that kept him well hid Could have told him, “No problem,” but they never did He worked and slaved for his “buddies” up there He’d have left them if told and so they didn’t dare So dim-witted Charlie, this “thought he was” thief Died all alone with his dreadful belief As for his ‘buddies” – now don’t get me started You see I’m a kin to the newly departed I’ll hunt them and trap them and when I am through There won’t be nothing up there but the jaw dropping view