the dude ranch dog…“Oh, LeRoy!” my poem

by Richard Subber | Mar 6, 2025 | Books, My poetry, Poetry

a dog like him…

Oh, LeRoy!

It’s just not true that every ranch

   has to have a dog like him,

but try to name a place that calls

   itself a ranch, and claims with pride

      to be a place where cowboys ride,

and doesn’t have a lanky pooch

   who sleeps in all the darnedest spots,

and loves a scratch, and likes the kids,

and knows his name is LeRoy.

Every dude at Smith Fork Ranch

   made friends with him without delay,

and learned his name, and scratched his head,

and waved him into line to join

   the hike up to the bears’ own ridge,

and cheered him on when he detoured

   to splash around in that high pond,

and made a point, back at the ranch,

to grab a treat from LeRoy’s jar

   and make him “Sit!” (he almost did).

You’ll guess these stories never end,

but you don’t know that we were there

   on our last day, when that old truck

       made too much noise in passing by,

and LeRoy knew—to keep us safe—

   he had to snarl and bark and run

      to chase that truck—but oh!, too close…

He never knew how many tears,

so many tears we had for him.

October 15, 2016

Sadly, LeRoy died at Smith Fork Ranch, Crawford, CO, in September 2007.

My poem “Oh, LeRoy!” was published in my second collection of 47 poems, Seeing far: Selected poems.

You can buy it on Amazon (paperback and Kindle),

or get it free in Kindle Unlimited, search for “Richard Carl Subber”

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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2025 All rights reserved.

Book review: The Sea Runners

…it informs, but it does not soar…

by Ivan Doig

click here

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Writing Rainbows: Poems for Grown-Ups with 59 free verse and haiku poems,

and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)

and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.

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