WHEN I WAS A YOUNGUN

WHEN I WAS A YOUNGUN
By Donna Penley


When I was a youngun, I thought I was invincible;
“God forbid”, my daddy said “you’d do anything close to sensible!”
There wasn’t any cayouse I was afraid to ride;
Tried to rope the biggest stock -- yes, I said I tried!

As I advanced to my teen years, there was a lot of work to do;
But, my brother and I had our games we played, and that helped to get us through.
Our trail boss was our Daddy.  
He had a strong but guiding hand;
Showed us things we’d have to know, to protect our earth and land.

Then came my college years, and I went back to stupid;
Cracked the books a lot, but saved out time for cupid.
Married me an engineer, one who designed aircraft;
He thought he could tame this girl, but pardner, he was daft!

I took all I could of the city life, then bid it all goodbye;
In looking back on those early years, I guess I didn’t try
To  make the most of what I had -- but I yearned for the land,
And open spaces saved just for me by my daddy’s loving hand.

Folks say my face has “character”, but I’ll give you all a guess,
They’re being nice, ‘cause after years of wind and sun, I’d say it’s just a  mess!
But I got what I wished for -- open spaces to run free -- and
All those years of livin’ that turned that youngun into me!

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