In the dust where silence sighs,
The cowboy falls, his last breath drawn,
A bullet’s kiss beneath wide skies,
Before the sun heralds the dawn.

Gunfire echoes in the night,
A sharp retort, a final plea,
Shadows dance in pale moonlight,
His fate a darkened prophecy.

He strides back through the swinging doors,
Hat tilted low, a glance, a glare,
Eyes meet eyes, intent restores,
The tension thick within the air.

Cards clatter on the worn-out table,
Luck and fate in fortune’s game,
A hand that once was strong and able,
Now folds in shadows, spent and lame.

His horse, it whinnies, nostrils flared,
Before the gallop through the vale,
A journey taken, unprepared,
Through memories, a fleeting trail.

He saddles up as stars do fade,
The moon a sliver, night grows thin,
Recalling choices wrongly made,
Regrets where hopes had once been pinned.

In the saloon, a glass is raised,
Whiskey burns, but numbs the pain,
A toast to days of youth, unfazed,
Before the fall of sorrow’s rain.

Rewind the tale, each step retake,
From bullet’s flight to life’s first beat,
A cowboy’s heart with dreams at stake,
Now undone by his own deceit.

Through backward glance, the story told,
Of bravery and bitter end,
A cowboy’s spirit, fierce and bold,
Returns to dust, where all things blend.

So let this verse unwind the thread,
From final breath to first embrace,
A cowboy’s legend, backward read,
A life’s last ride in time’s embrace.

#ReverseChronology

© AJ Wappelhorst/Bear Klan Media