The Fastest Gun Always Won
Long ago, in the cowboy days,
a fast draw was just a blaze.
If you could draw and fire first,
You would find that you are cursed.
Everyone would be looking for you.
They wanted to be the fastest too.
The way it’s done is to outdraw you.
But, this would mean you’re dead too.
A young lad that I heard of then.
He was so fast, let me tell you friend.
You could not see his draw.
He never missed. He could split a straw.
But, this young lad was very smart.
He wore no gun from the start.
He didn’t want anyone to know.
He was the fastest of any show.
He didn’t want that type of reputation.
To be known as the fastest in the nation
was not his bag of tea.
It was all very simple, you see.
He practiced till he was the best.
His parents were killed by a guest.
Someone they invited into their home.
He was a killer, it was later known.
The lad saw him and knew him by sight.
That’s why he practiced day and night.
Then, he heard the killer was in town.
So, that’s exactly where he was bound.
Before he got there, there was a fight.
The killer was killed in a gunfight.
He realized he could end up just like him.
He decided to put up his guns then.
So, the fastest gun in the West
Will never be known as the best.
At least till he was elected sheriff.
Then, he had to shoot and bare it.
Seldom did someone even try.
They found his speed wasn’t a lie.
Gun in his hand before they cleared leather.
They went to jail for being so cleaver.
In time, gunfights became a thing of the past.
The sheriff was never laid under the grass.
His reputation, be what it may,
became the stories of another day.
——————————-R. W. Johnson—–(2016)