Bare dirt, dust and constant wind
Rocky hills and trees that bend
The flats littered with prairie rat mounds
They know how to build a town

Barbed-wire fence strung for miles
Dividing this land into small tiles
Some are bare and others have bulls
A cowboy seen with his fixing tools

Morningtime and breakfast is done
Lots of work to do under the sun
Cattle to feed, corrals to weld
Ninety-degree heat feels like hell

The orange ball bids its goodbyes
Another day's work is done
It's twenty miles to town and time to eat
To the drugstore or off to Quinn?
Let's meet up with nearby friends

Off to the Two-Bit Saloon
Twelve hours from now it'll be noon
Deer along the roadside watching us pass
It is time to rest at last

Coming back to life at seven o'clock
The house rolls out of bed to start the day
Outside the front door is that constant breeze
Some things don't change
On the South Dakota prairie

-Jonathan Cullifer

Poetry