Stranger with a Badge

[tigerman]

Rode into town on a cloudy day,

Stranger with a stern look on his face,

Dismounted.



Stood for moments checking his six gun,

Moved to a chair on hotel porch,

Reclined.



Gave thought about the task before him,

His sworn duty not an easy one,

Accepted.



Just before noon stood up and stretched,

Tied holster strings around his thigh,

Reflected.



Went in saloon and called a name,

Outlaw at the bar dropped his drink,

Surprised.



He reckoned why stranger was there,

Faced each other, six guns blazing,

Combated.



Gun fight over in blink of an eye,

Outlaw fell to floor gasping for breath,

Expired.



Stranger spun around and left saloon,

Strolled to his horse, nodded to crowd,

Remounted.



Rode out of town just after noontime,

In same direction that he came in,

Exhausted.



No one questioned stranger’s actions,

Badge permitted him to keep the town,

Defended.

[Muttado1sb]

I don't know if you meant for this to bring both Clint Eastwood's ''Man with No Name'' westerns and ''Blazing Saddles'' to mind, but it did for me.

[MHenry]

I like the structure of this one, tigerman. Almost like newspaper headlines, missing articles making the words spare and cutting, almost haiku-like. And the story is compelling.

[grant hayes]

^ What MHenry said