The Outlaw Trail

The Outlaw Trail
By Janice N. Chapman
(C) 8/2001 All Rights Reserved

Funny how you keep lookin’ back
And checkin’ out that backward trail,
Especially when you’ve cause to think
Maybe there’s a posse on your tail.

You might know the land
That you’re bent on ridin’ through,
But you don’t under estimate ‘em,
‘Cause they might know it, too.

The Winchester’s fully loaded,
As are the colts that hang on either side,
And you’re quite aware of all three of them,
As onward you ride.

The sun, the rain, the bitter cold,
Hail stones and lightening flares,
Thunder rumbles,or slight cooling breeze,
Your living quarters where you fare.

A shanty, cave or shade tree
Becomes your lonesome home,
And most of the rest of your life
Will be spent camping out alone.

No matter that you robbed a bank,
Or that this was your first offence;
Some of those upon your trail
Don’t see the justice in this event.

They’d rather see a feller starve
Or in the least have a meager fare,
Than to offer him a job
Or even act like they care.

They drive you to the job you do
To keep yourself alive,
Then put all the blame on you
Because you’re tryin’ to survive.

And once you’re branded an outlaw,
It seems there’s no let up
Of the things you get accused of,
And it surely overruns your cup.

There’s those whose just deserves
Are equal to their crimes.
and then there’s those whose pettiness
Just takes up someone’s time.

The law will pat themselves on the back
Once they have followed the outlaw trail,
And brought in to “justice”
The man who tried hard not to fail.

They’ll keep to the trail he rides
Like ticks on a critter’s back,
Bound and determined one way or another
They’re goin’ to bring him back.

Keepin’ to the outlaw trail
Just a step or two ahead of the law,
Is not always an easy task,
And is sometimes decide by the draw.

For not all of us will stand aside
And let the law have their way,
Just because they decided we did wrong
With what we did the other day.

And some lawmen aren’t of social trust
With what they do and say.
Some of them are just as bad
As the outlaws on whom they prey.