When I told Mom I was gonna be a cowboy,
She smothered a smile and asked, “How, boy?
You’ve asthma and glasses and your best friends are books!
Your nightlight and teddies protect you from crooks!
How your mind leapt to cowboy, I’ll never know.”

With my own smile kicking, I gave it a go:
“My heart gave it a shove
And as my mind fell,
Heart leapt down from above
For friendship and, well,
Love might be the core
To maybe, just maybe, be something more.

When not shaving with cacti
I’ll have a beard full of prairie dogs,
Oh yes, I’m gonna be that guy –
Begrimed and gutsy.
New kinds of dusty.
With a desert scorching glare
And a devil scaring flare
For making the best
Of what’s not even there!
I’ll ride through the West
And on into myth!

Besides, the books and bears will come with.”

Drawn by WS

Stomp your toes and twist your nose.
Put on all your aunt’s old clothes.
Strike a lizard or crow pose,
Then follow where the Witcher goes.

Round the bend. Through Le Claq Lake.
Swim dreams until their dreamers wake.
Make your very best mistake
And plunge ahead before it’s fake.

The Witcher walks a wyrmy way.
If you’re to witch, you must obey.
She’ll take you where the poppies play,
You’ll want a pretty – Pick a stray.

Pop it! It’ll pop you back.
Back to never and right on track.
Beyond beyond, back to the crack
That marks No’s backward attack.

Fill it in with fearful cheer.
No must know why you are here.
And once all the can’ts are clear,
Welcome to witching, my dear.

Where the earth is red and ruled by rocky giants,
Where the water flows bluer than true.
Where quiet thunder meets a rumbling silence,
Where the last of the secrets grew.

That’s where I’ll go.

When the time is righter than it knows to be,
When Time forgets itself.
When Bad and Good meet Glee and the three agree,
When Hatred toasts our health.

That’s when I’ll go.

How an earthworm winds its way by swaying stone,
How tick means tock is done.
How Sir Sun only finds the day alone,
How fire and air are one.

That’s how I’ll go.

I’m going.

There was a young lad with a horn,
Who tooted it every morn’;
 The town ran him out,
 Now he wanders about,
That homeless young lad and his horn.

There was an old lady of Seoul,
Who dug a most marvelous hole;
 She kept digging down,
 ‘Til she ran out of ground,
That deepest old lady of Seoul.

There was an old man of Nairobi,
Who made him a wife of adobe;
 When dry she was good,
 But rain made her mud,
That lonely old man of Nairobi.

The forever flamboyant Penny Popper!
When it comes to dapper dress, none can top her!
She struts about town in the finest,
More made up than any royal highness.

Her alligator boots were where it began,
Then blue leather pants cinched by a belt of snake skin,
With a fox fur coat and turtle shell crown
You’d have to flip the world to bring her down!

But then the turtle missed its home.
The cow felt nude without its case.
The fox got cold.
The snake’s friends didn’t recognize its sweet little face.
And no one’s afraid of a gator without scales.
So they all returned to their proper place.

They all squirmed back into themselves,
Filling their skins full to the brim.
But Penny and those critters worked things out.
Now she just wears them.

Drawn by KakieMix

There was an old lady of Perm,
Who attended a ball with a worm;
They cleared the dance floor,
Then boogied some more,
That gambolling old couple of Perm.

There was a young lady in yellow,
Who refused to ever say “hello”;
When people drew nigh,
She’d only say “bye”,
That perplexing young lady in yellow.

There was an old man of ‘Fenokee,
Who slowly grew more and more croaky;
‘Til his true colors showed,
He turned into a toad,
That warty old man of ‘Fenokee.

Here I am, Luck!
Standing right here!
Where are you, Luck?
I feel no fear
Of you, come near!

What’s that?
Luck’s not looking for me?
Odd.
Why wouldn’t she be?
I’m all too ready
To hear her applaud
Me being me.

She doesn’t give to give?
My only Luck is tough?
Well, okay.
Fair enough.
But as I live,
I’mma come find you, Luck!

You like to hear of tall tales.
A boy saw truth in the blue,
The blue of the river trails,
The truth of himself plainly
As he looked in a place he knew
To be clear of self-served veils
Yet full of the hidden, strangely.

Attention brings attention,
The river drank him in:
“The kingly hills are high above
But you’re down mucking in the mud
Where every last lost lover of
Knowing all has dreamt of flood
Then fled a cloud’s fluffy grin.
What could you ever hope to win?”

“I want all of me,” he said,
Lighting up the kind of mind
That finds a way where none have tread,
Not gods nor mice, alive or dead.

The river knew and now instead
Of falling down the mountain blind,
Everywhere that wet boy goes
The river trails behind.

All new streams, you may suppose,
Mean the boy’s not far ahead.

I’ve no interest in the realms of men
But I will rule the land of pretend.
All that’s not and never been
Are my kin beyond the end.

This plays off of Humpty Dumpty by Mother Goose.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty sat through the Fall.
All Winter’s forces turned twice past ten
Couldn’t drop Humpty or set him aspin.

It was nothing all that brave or strong,
He found a good spot where he might belong,
He sat and he twiddled and liked to stare
But as he sat there he forgot to care.

So he sat for weeks, he sat for seasons,
He sat and flat out forgot the reasons
He had to stand or fight or dance
Or chase a monkey or take a chance.

He sat until Spring woke the world
And with her goldly green unfurled
He felt the need to grow as well
And so he leapt and gladly fell.

Humpty shattered on the rocky floor
Waiting to make him less and more,
He picked up the pieces doing the same,
Picking up pieces untouched by shame.

He put himself back together again,
A little less tall, a little more thin,
Standing up straight, just a little more him,
Off the wall and off on a whim.

Drawn by Giacomo  (find more from this artist here: dubook.tumblr.com )