Peacemaker

Ballad for a Gunslinger

By: Charles Giuliano - Aug 04, 2015

Peacemaker

While just a kid
His dad dead
Shiloh they said
Shot in the head
By Johnny Reb
Headed west
Rousting about
The first one in self defense
Bar brawl spilled to the street
Happened in a flash
Didn’t know the guy
Watched him die
Then another and another
Never liked the killing
Came with a rush
Never more alive
Some clean one bullet
Others messy bleeding out
Strangers came to town
Gunning for him
Testing his speed
The last one barely twenty
Short and mean
Cut down too soon
That was it
Walked away
Wife and kids
Working the fields
Got him with a rifle
Cheat shot from
Behind the ridge
They say the son of
Man he killed
Years before
Then someone
Got him
All that before
The war to end all wars
Over there