A Cowboy

If sweaty cowboy hats
Wrinkled pearl button shirts
And old boots
Makes a man a
Cowboy
I am one.

If being dragged an acre
Through East Texas dirt
Wearing gravel like a smile
And standing up
To those
Who would stare me down
Makes a man a
Cowboy
I am one.

If clinging to the reins

And wind-blown mane
Of a charging mustang
And riding
Hell for leather
Down forested hills
Across rain-swollen streams
Makes a man a
Cowboy
I am one.

If eating unrecognizable chow

In a steady drizzle
After sleeping the night
On cold
Hard earth
And dreaming of a girl
With a narrow mind
And wide hips
Makes a man a cowboy
I am one.

But if a

Cowboy
Is that dandy
With a five hundred dollar
Stetson
And a thousand dollar grin...
Then, I aint.