The Ode to Billy the Kid

I met him that evening by chance,
Only the wind enhanced.
He eternally driven and tired,
Brought the wind so desired.

I offered my hand — he paused in thought,
Weighing the trust that he sought.
Searching my eyes, he said in haste:
"There is no time left to waste."

I felt his heart beating,
I saw his right hand heating.
He took a step - I froze like hell!
He confessed: he needs just a pal.

In the tavern we were somehow.
After a whiskey he joked and now
His laughter could not be ceased,
Everyone remembered that he exists!

Everyone loved him forever,
And it can never be lost!
They were all waiting for Billy,
But the scum is always so silly.

He was chasing the truth,
Wasting all his golden youth.
Where will be his fate after?
He walks on the edge with laughter.

Here the law is cast aside,
Here the devil's will is guide!
And the rope is hanging loose,
Waiting for the fatal noose!

We owe it all to you, young Billy,
One of few who fights so freely!
Lincoln County won't forget,
The marks you've left, the stage you've set!

For Billy threat of death was fun
And he joked when noticed a gun!
He got a tribe of four good pals.
Could be better anything else?

United the pals in the wild land,
He cleared they'd go to the end!
And obsessed with a crazy idea
He assured them no more fear!

Billy was poor but also rich.
In wanderings a pal becomes each!
He wouldn't change it for the world.
Pals were more precious than gold!

He believed in pals like a child.
Alas, this place is so wild,
They got all bullets back in full;
Now they don't need guns to pull.

Maybe he's thinking it was risky?
Washing down his yearning with whiskey.
He kept telling me: "Give it a burl!"
Inhaling the breasts scent of a mestizo girl.

I could hardly believe that I gaze
Into a man lived in endless chase.
How does it feel to be an outlaw?
If I could I'd save him from a fatal flaw!

"Hey, buddy, I'm here, I'm with you!
I've always been waiting for you!
I'm that Mexican boy, you know,
Who you gave your hat to long ago!"

"No, friend!" - Billy came to his senses.
"I won't give you to bullets, no chances!
They all were killed one by one,
They all see now the eternal sun.

You're my pal in this town entire,
We'll have a drink and sit by the fire."

Having banged an empty glass neatly,
Having drained a bottle completely,
William Bonney left before dawn,
The storm for the law that hasn't gone!




April 4, 2025
* Alice L. July *