Another path to sundown

 Another path to sundown

Another path to sundown, the cowboy rubbed his back and thought, with love, of rum relief tucked safely in his pack. Thoughts of his, dying,  father tread heavy through his mind, of going home to dash or prove the truth of what he’d find. On reaching an arroyo he reined a weary mount and, from his vest, took out to read his mother’s grim account. Another path to sundown, though prudence can advise the prodigal who rules the soul will call with distant eyes. In nature's own cathedral, beneath the milky way, he made a vow to reach his home before another day. Another path to sundown, the peace for which he’d yearned. He wasn’t home and yet he was the prodigal returned. ~ Dean Neighbors ~