My grandfather, Luther “Bunk” Stringer, was a man whose life, in my opinion, was of historic note, and his story deserves to be told and remembered. He was by far the best man I ever knew and he was my hero. If I’m one day considered to be even half the man Bunk Stringer was, I, too, will have had one hell of a ride.
One Hell of a Ride
Come over here and sit for a spell
Lend an ear, I’ll give it a bend
I’ve been known to tell a tale or two
Of things that were, or might have been
With words I’ll paint a picture of days
When I was young and I was lean
Of days I sat tall in the saddle
Long ago when just a teen
I’ll tell of the time I met a girl
Who made me blush and act the fool
The most beautiful girl in Texas
Was no mistake they called her Jewel
I’ll tell you about the sunlit days
Out on the north Texas plains
Where I chased the steers that wandered
‘cross the hot mesquite filled range
I’ll tell of how I sat atop my mount
On a hill as I pondered and dreamed
Dreams of what lay beyond the hills
Far places I’d never been
I’ll tell you ‘bout some of those places
For a bit of traveling I have done
Oh, I wandered from ocean to ocean
In pursuit of that brighter sun
But all roads lead me back here
Now I’ve lost the lust to roam
And so you find me here on this porch
In Texas, my home sweet home
No, I don’t have much to show
For the eighty some years I’ve lived
For I lived hard and I loved hard
I gave this world all I had to give
But cry not when you look upon
The few things I leave behind
My life was full of love and laughter
And I had one hell of a ride

Copyright © 1996 C. Mashburn