the Fuse of Rio Bravo
put a clove in her mouth,
stepped down off her horse,
her spurs clicked, keeping time
with the Apache song, she pushed
open the pair of saloon louvre'd doors,
"when a lady enters a room, did your mother
teach you to stand and take off your hat?"

"ain't no lady if
she enters a saloon,"
Satan's bridles and bits laughed,

the Fuse of Rio Bravo
stayed calm, she was about
to make them rise so she could see
who was wearing brass,

"is she a lady if
she bets her breasts?"
the Fuse of Rio Bravo ripped
open her white blouse and the Lord's
flesh spilled, the men stood and she counted
brass belt buckles to match in number to the brass
bridles and bits,

"ante up, Fuse of Rio Bravo,
your woman and you too when
you lose this poker hand," Satan's
bridles and bits said,

"warm up that brass bed,
but not before I collect those
brass belt buckles and a bottle
of whiskey," the Fuse of Rio Bravo
said,

her woman was outside
collecting brass bridles and
bits, she turned the horses loose
and they ran hell bent for leather
across the prairies to the bell tower,

the men thinking the
Fuse of Rio Bravo wanted
their pants off, so they threw
their brass belt buckles on the
green felt poker table,

her woman busted
through the louvre'd
saloon doors, the dynamic
nature of prayer and a gun,
praying she didn't have to shoot,
she threw a burlap bag to the Fuse
of Rio Bravo, "move and I'll melt your
dead flesh back into the brass church bell
you all stole and melted down for these brass
buckles, bridles, and bits!  Pick 'em up, Fuse of
Rio Bravo,"

the Fuse of Rio Bravo
struck a match and watched
it burn, put the brass in the burlap,
"that church bell was a gift from the
Lord, Satan's bridle and bit just lost
this hand."

the Fuse of Rio Bravo
and her woman rode hell
bent for leather across the prairies
to the church bell tower, where they
had already replaced the bell...

Once you strike the match...
things will never be the same...


Copyright 2006 Sage Sweetwater, firebrand lesbian novelist

The Fuse of Rio Bravo by Sage Sweetwater
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewpoetry.asp?id=152380