Evelyn Katz
Here Have All the Cowboys Gone
Oh you get me ready in your 56 Chevy
—Paula Cole
Oh Paula the cowboys are cowering
Cowering behind rocks and Republicans.
Oh Paula the cowboys are pontificating
Pontificating from pews and pulpits.
Oh Paula the cowboys are armed
Armed with rifles and religion.
Oh Paula your John Wayne is crouching
Crouching in closets and cowboys.
Oh Paula your Marlboro man is selling
Selling vape under stirrups and Stetsons.
Oh Paula your Lonely Ranger is shooting
Shooting up coeds and classrooms.
Oh Paula it’s time for the women
The women to save us from the cowboys.
But first they must stop apologizing
Apologizing for passion and persistence
Apologizing for their wounds and their wombs.
Evelyn Katz is the author of What I See at Red Lights (Createspace Independent Publishing Platform, 2019). She taught English and ESL for fifteen years and was later an assistant principal. Katz founded The Falcon Pen Literary Magazine, showcasing student poetry. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in Riverrun Literary Magazine, The Voices’ Project, Coffee Shop Poems, and Tell Us A Story Blog, among other publications, as well as in the anthology Leisure…Dinner with the Muse Vol. III (Ra Rays Press, 2019, edited by Bob Heman, Peggy Fitzgerald, Jack Tricarico, and Jack Tar. Katz lives in Brooklyn.
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