the legend of the subway cowboy

Ten years ago—so the legend says—
The Cowboy came.
At first, he lived above ground with us.
But soon enough he found
There are no cows allowed
Within the city limits.
Restless,
Penniless and
Homeless,
He took up his lasso,
Which had grown dusty with disuse,
And descended into the
Underground,
Where he could
Die a dismal death.

Once, when someone passed him,
They said,
“Are you planning on roping a train?” and
Pointed at the Cowboy’s lasso.
The Cowboy picked himself off
The sticky concrete and said,
“Yes.”
The idea seemed sound to him.

He waited and
Waited and
Waited and
At last, he heard the thundering of the train
Coming
Closer
From down the dark depths
Which he had begun to think of as home.
He waited
With his muscles tense, and
His lasso ready, and
BOOM!
It burst forth from the tunnel like
A bullet
Fired from the barrel of a gun, and
The Cowboy hurled his lasso into the air, and
It caught on the train
Somewhere and
With a great YANK!
The Cowboy was
Pulled into the air and
Away into the night and
Before anyone knew exactly
What had happened, he was
Gone.

No one ever heard from him again.
But his story lives on, and
Today,
The Subway Cowboy is famous,
Which is what he really wanted
Anyway,
But he was too ashamed
To admit it.