Lament for The Kid: A Ballad

By Stevie P Smith

By Stevie Psmith

There's a lot of toad-in-the-hole

Out here in the West,
Under the control
Of the good, the bad and the best.

Seems the Kid had been ridin'
For half of his life,
Knew every canyon and sidin',
Every six-gun and knife.

He fought agin the health boys fair,
Though they'd often do their worst -
A bushwhacking by 'em there
Was more'n even he durst.

A grizzled legend now,
The Kid was hard,
A cross I trow
'Twixt gunslinger 'n' bard.

But the West was changin'
And the thinking fatwise kinda low
The summer the Kid went rangin'
To find the answer was "no".

South of Teddington a little,
Near where Ted had plied his bun,
The Kid and his trademark vittle
Had a showdown in the sun.

Townsfolk was eatin' grapes and nuts
When the Kid come in off the trail,
And 'stead a sittin' on their butts,
Was takin' turns to swim 'n' sail. 

He reined in sharp, raised high his arm
And cried aloud with zest -
But white chocolate was lackin' all its charm
The day they laid the Kid to rest.