Small Town Rodeo

the whole town smells like horseshit
the announcer, some Alberta farmer
puts on his Oklahoma drawl
and the rodeo clown’s jokes
are all from 1958
a karaoke queen dreams she’s Patsy Cline
at the beer garden after dark
but what the hell, it’s a show
nothin’s real
nothin’s real but the road
and the busted up bull rider
on the ground

~ Howard Brown

Howard Brown is a poet and visual artist born in the Alberta backwoods and currently residing in Falkland, British Columbia. He has self-published two poetry collections and a chapbook, and has been published in Quills Poetry, Ascent Aspirations, Pinebeetle Review, and Trade Talk Magazine. Howard is working on a chapbook based on his experience as a roughneck in Alberta in the 1960s.

2 Responses to “Small Town Rodeo”

  1. nice one – thanks.

  2. husky piece – love your “withheld sound” – left me craving the thud…

Leave a Reply