{"id":76668,"date":"2019-06-05T16:21:52","date_gmt":"2019-06-05T21:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=76668"},"modified":"2019-06-05T16:21:53","modified_gmt":"2019-06-05T21:21:53","slug":"the-view-from-the-balcony-from-the-pen-of-the-sundown-cowboy-self-proclaimed-poet-lariat-of-the-balcony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/the-view-from-the-balcony-from-the-pen-of-the-sundown-cowboy-self-proclaimed-poet-lariat-of-the-balcony\/","title":{"rendered":"The View from the Balcony: From the Pen of the Sundown Cowboy, Self-Proclaimed Poet Lariat of The Balcony\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sorry<\/strong>

Don\u2019t be sorry for being who you are.
Don\u2019t be sorry. We all have our own kinds of scars.
Don\u2019t be sorry if you can\u2019t always be there for me.
Don\u2019t be sorry.
Don\u2019t be sorry.

Don\u2019t tell me you\u2019re sorry; don\u2019t tell me you\u2019re sorry anymore.
I know that you mean it and I know that you are.
But, please, don\u2019t tell me that you\u2019re sorry anymore,
sorry anymore,
sorry anymore.

You\u2019ve never told me anything but truth.
I\u2019ve never scrutinized your words like some kind of sleuth.
I\u2019ve always savored them like a sweet vermouth.
You\u2019ve never told me anything but truth\u2014
anything but truth.

I\u2019m not sorry that I fell in love with you;
I\u2019m just sorry that you don\u2019t feel the same way too\u2014
that you can\u2019t love me in all the ways that I love you.
But you\u2019ve never told me anything but truth\u2014

I want you to be all you want to be
I want you to fly unfettered, wild, and free,
even if it doesn\u2019t, if it doesn\u2019t include me.
I want you to be.
I want you to be.

And it\u2019s me – I\u2019m the one who\u2019s sorry.
I\u2019m sorry for what will never be.
I\u2019m so sorry\u2014sorry as can be.
I\u2019m sorry,
sorry\u2026for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Edge of Cold<\/strong>

I always knew this was coming;
I guess I just pretended not to see,
but it was right there in your eyes this evening
when you gave yourself to me.

Your kiss told me this would be the last time;
I thank you for the kindness shown to me.
I know you never meant to hurt me,
but sometimes that\u2019s the way it has to be.

I know nothing lasts forever.
Seems like that\u2019s the way it always goes.
Like the beer we left on the night stand,
sitting on the edge of cold.

I\u2019ve got precious memories to cling to.
I know I will always hold them dear.
So let\u2019s just lie here in this holy moment\u2014
please make believe you don\u2019t see my tears.

Like a flame that\u2019s burned down to ashes,
like the first night wind on the sea,
like the very last rain of springtime,
like the heart that you once gave to me,

I know nothing lasts forever.
Seems like that\u2019s the way it always goes.
Like the beer we left on the night stand,
sitting on the edge of cold.
Like the beer we left on the night stand,
sitting on the edge of cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Unwanted<\/strong>

Fatherless baby, you made it through childhood\u2014
orphaned and homeless when you were fourteen,
arrested for stealin\u2019 some farm woman\u2019s butter.
You were just hungry and lonely and lean.

No ties to bind you so you took to wand\u2019rin\u2019.
Came under the spell of a horse thief named \u201cJohn\u201d.
He showed you how you could make you a livin\u2019,
but, boy, it ain\u2019t livin\u2019 when you\u2019re on the run.

Stealin\u2019 an\u2019 rustlin\u2019 soon led to a killin\u2019
and killin\u2019 just led to more killin\u2019, don\u2019cha know.
William was captured and William escaped them\u2014
always upon the wrong side of the law.

He tried to give up, but a bounty was on him\u2014
five-hundred dollars\u2014dead or alive.
Pat Garrett poured hot lead inside of young William
and poor William Bonney just lay down and died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nobody wanted you\u2014young William Bonney.
You longed to be cared for, but nobody did.
Nobody wanted you\u2014young William Bonney.
But everyone wants you now: Billy the Kid.
Yes, everyone wants you now: Billy the Kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lonely Much Too Long<\/strong>

I been lonely much too long.
Been singin\u2019 those ole sad songs
\u2018bout someone what done me wrong.
Lonely much too long, y\u2019all.
Lonely much too long.

Adam fell in love with Eve,
but there was somethin\u2019 up her sleeve.
\u2018Fore too long they had to leave.
I\u2019d say the Lord was peeved,
oh yes, I do believe.

Antony and Cleopat
lived in an Egyptian flat
\u2018till one day they had a spat.
\u201cGet out!” said Cleopat.
\u201cGet outta my ziggurat!\u201d

The Hunchback of ole Notre Dame\u2014
Quasimode was his name\u2014
His gal said, \u201cStop! I got a migraine!\u201d
But he was deaf as a train.
Now Esmerelda\u2019s lame.

Jack and Jill went up the hill.\u2019
Jackie \u2013 he got fresh with Jill.
Then he took a little spill.
She knocked him down the hill \u2013
Jill had done got her fill.

Sally took me for a ride.
Broke my heart so I just cried.
Hurt me so I almost died.
I\u2019m all torn up inside.
Oh, ride, Sally, ride!

I been lonely much too long.
Been singin\u2019 those ole sad songs
\u2018bout someone what done me wrong.
Lonely much too long, y\u2019all.
Lonely much too long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026and that\u2019s the view from The Balcony.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sorry Don\u2019t be sorry for being who you are.Don\u2019t be sorry. We all have our own kinds of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":262,"featured_media":39753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11902],"tags":[7602,4782,10286,10878],"class_list":["post-76668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-randy-weeks","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-randy-weeks","tag-the-view-from-the-balcony"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/2017-5-11-View-from-the-Balcony.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}