Looked liked the numbers on a clock.
There was Fred, Jim, Bo and Reese
And the man they all called “Doc”.
“Whachu doin out here anyways Doc?”
Asked a cowboy across the flames.
“You got college, and you talk real good,
You coulda made ya’self a name”.
Doc blew the steam from his coffee cup
Then two fingered up his hat.
He looked up at the cowboy, then into the fire
And said “ Yes, I’ve had all that.”
“I’ve had jobs, titles, secretaries and a desk.
I’ve given orders, and I had respect.
I had a wife for a lot of my life.
Had a big house, and a belly load of debt.”
“But, all those things became a prison cell
When love rode off one day.
It never came back, and I decided to pack
And just be on my way.”
“There is nothing that can free a man
Who’s trapped in a life he doesn’t choose.
Not all the gadgets in a big box store,
Nor all the bottles of booze.”
“One day I left all and headed west.
I met a rancher who needed a hand.
I promised I’d learn all I could
If I could just live with the cattle and the land.”
“The rest is history, as they say
And tonight I’m on this drive.
Oh, I’ve had my share of livin,’
Just not enough of being alive.”
“Sometimes I’m bone tired and weary
But, it’s the best kind of tired.
I’ve spent the day free and outdoors,
And at night I’m around the fire.”
He looked up at the canopy of stars,
As far as the eye could see.
“Make a name for myself?” he said to the men.
"Just call me ‘Doc”, and call me 'free.' "
K.L. Dennie July 2012
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