Zarzyski. I don’t know where he gitz ‘em,
those things he calls his poems..
I suppose, sometimes he makes ‘em up,
then blows them as he roams..

I comes here two years ago on a dare,
Came from suburbia to try this Cowboy thang..
Gosh dang it and gull darn it,
he got to messin’ with my brain..

I thoughts I had the perfect jargon,
the ones they taught me in school..
But all theys ta got me doin’ now,
is buyin’ CD’s and sittin’ on a stool..

It ain’t my fault when all them words,
Start ‘ta chasin’ away my tools..
Of language and English and such
Ta be replaced by the Cowboy rules..





Okay, Okay Okay…I ain’t sayin’ it’s a bad thang,
ta give up my ocean trips to Tolvana..
When the Z throws them words at me,
I git ta feelin’ like I’m in Nirvana..

I likes it, I love it, the drawl and warm handshakes,
that ain’t a happenin’ wheres I comes from..
We’re way too busy fightin’ freeway gridlock,
breathin’ carbon emits and dealin’ with the scum..

Now, the big Z, et al…has got me thinkin’ and a dreamin’
What its like this life of sand and sage,
Startin’ to like the feelin’ of brotherly love
And doing away with all the daily rage…

I’m ta thinkin’ now with all them words he spits,
It ain’t such a bad thing, ya know , hearing him orate his poem..
The thoughts and memories that come back to me,
And make me cherish my parents, sisters, brother and Home






Who made my life such a wonderful journey,
That brought me here to enjoy this western family..
Of singers and prosers and ranchers and poets,
Is it possible I’ll be buyin’ boots before ya know it?

Its that Z guy in his Carribean blue shirt and wild flamingo tie,
That got me really believ’in there’s another life out here..
That got me to thinkin’ I really have a lot of pity,
For the suits, white shirts and Beamers livin’ in the city…

It must be that fast talk, that diction, that cowboy thinkin’,
That leather, the saddles, the sunsets and dawny rises..
The draw of the quiet, feelin’ the earth, wind and sky..
That gots my brain to thinkin’ I’d think this is where I’d like to die.

--Kenn Stinchfield January 2009 Elko, Nevada