I was just sitting here thinking I should try to finish a poem I had started some time ago. With my favored seven syllable line, this is what I came up with.
We've all seen horseback riders
atop galloping horses
standing tall in their stirrups
and throwing coiled lariats
at desperate rodeo
calves. Hell, I've even written
a poem about Bill Dee's
stirrups and how he gave them
to Dad. But many don't know ---
they had to be invented.
You see, Genghis Khan had men
in his Mongolian horde
who needed to have solid
footing so as to drive spears
hard into the hearts of foes
who stood in their path. Bareback
riders just could not direct
desired muscled energy
into victims' flesh without
bracing themselves for the blow.
This concerned the old man Khan
enough so that he sponsored
a contest giving his horde
a rare opportunity:
design a better platform
upon which to deliver
your spears more efficiently.
And so it was, the stirrup
came into being, proving
"there are no gains without pains."
