Bunko Artists and $10 Horses

extracted
from Jett Durango's
Powder River Hymnals

cow-licker
gun-sucker
sod-dipper

he rode
a $10 horse
and sat upon
a $40 dollar saddle
like a writer with cheap sheets
in between the more valuable cover
the ranch owned the horse that belonged
to the brand the bunko artist owned the saddle

the difference
Sweetwater's horse
belongs to the brand
she is owner of the saddle

Jett Durango
in the late 1800s
knew shove the queer
meant passing counterfeit money
all down but nine to be taken bandero
in the widow's weeds and bangtail the wild horse
in those days saw the bunko artists coming full of
the brigham young cocktail where cheap whiskey made
a preacher nicknamed a gospel sharp—bunko artists and
$10 horses

Copyright Ms. Sage Sweetwater, Celebrity firebrand lesbian novelist