Cowboy #3
I ain’t never been the cowboy I dreamed I’d be.
I’d bring the rainbow rodeo to town
to change that. But I’m still not the bronco
breaker, not the whistle of a western.
What had I hoped to find? Tree whisperer,
boy you fucking lassoed me. I’m the tree
that you spur climb, dig your heels into
to spot me, a steel rail in a green field.
Is there anything more patriotic?
Wrap me in the flag of your breath. I’ll shine
your shoes and I’ll bake you rosemary bread.
I’ll break in a horse, spurless and ropeless.
Oh just my body governing body.
So you can get home faster.
So you can run off if you’d like to.
Boston Gordon is a poet and writer living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They run the You Can't Kill A Poet reading series - which highlights queer and trans identified poets in Philadelphia. Boston earned their MFA in Poetry through Lesley University. They are a winner in the Free Library of Philadelphia’s inaugural Cultureshare. They received a Leeway Foundation Art & Change grant in 2017. They have previously been published in The Fem, Bedfellows, Tinderbox, Guernica and more.