poetry
Vera Queen of the Canyon



          The ways of affection are funny
          But I guess that there’s no set rule
          About things that we find in this life to love
          I fell in love with a mule.

          She’s high-headed big and so pretty
          She always looks shiny and clean
          Like a teacher in school she bossed all the mules
          And acted the part of the queen.

          It was my luck to always be gettin’
          Mules that had grown short and wide
          Till I kept on naggin’ my boot heels were draggin’
          Then they gave me ol’ Vera to ride.

          That day the boss said sorta friendly
          "I know that you’ll always be kind
          To Vera the queen of the Canyon,
          That trail goin’ mule of mine."

          Well we worked on that long trail together
          Through the dust, the heat and the rain,
          Just a one man mule and a one mule man
          Partners no matter what came.

          Guiding those mules back to Pilgrim
          She grew more gentle and kind
          Till she got in the mood started packin’ a dude
          And the boss said "boy that’s fine."

          One day when the thunder was poppin’
          Like hell broke loose in the skies
          And the wind at our slickers a floppin’
          There wasn’t a one of us dry.

          Out front was me and ol’ Vera
          Leadin’ them mules on home,
          I swear that I couldn’t help feelin’
          Like a cowboy king on a throne.

          We all heard the five o’clock whistle,
          It sounded so sad and forlorn.
          A lady said "Guide, is that the river boat ride?"
          I said "That is Gabriel’s horn."

          That started the buds into laughin’
          Though the shivers they couldn’t restrain,
          With soggy straw hats and sore where they sat
          Still they was glad that they came.

          Now that’s about all of this story,
          She learned to pack dudes to a tee.
          When she grows old I hope that she’s sold
          To no one but my boss and me.

          Somewhere there’s a big grassy pasture
          With water and shade all the time,
          For Vera the queen of the Canyon
          That trail goin’ mule of mine.

          -Ed Steele