QUOTE : .....I'm certain I asked for a cowboy one December past--<br />For I wanted the excitement of pioneers to last;<br />I ached to sing with a fiddle, speak with a drawl and twang;<br />I surely requested John Wayne to be part of my gang.<br /><br />Of course I dreamed of a cowboy in those Yuletides of yore--<br />For I wanted that ace, that corral fighter, that scout roar;<br />I ached for the authentic frontier hero of the West;<br />I surely requested the sacred battleground's finest.<br /><br />I did pray Santa'd give me a cowboy some time ago--<br />For I wanted a legend in denim wrangler for beau;<br />I ached to be rounded up safely by my saddled knight;<br />I surely requested I be prospected, mined, settled right...<br /><br /><br />-----excerpted from the poem 'A Cowboy For Christmas' in the book FROM GUAM TO CROWN CITY CORONADO (THANKS TO HERMANN, MISSOURI): A JOURNEY IN POESY, by Mariecor Ruediger