My first poem of 2024 is one I have been working on for months, "The Legend of the Bog Rider." John Elmore started a sermon a few months ago about a story his grandfather-in-law once told him about the bog rider. What's a bog rider? A bog rider was a cowboy that would ride to various watering spots, esepcially in the spring, that had become death traps for cows due to rains. He would then rescue them from their certain doom. His grandfather-in-law shared how the bog rider very much represented Christ. Here's John's telling of it: The Bog Rider | Watermark Community Church Added to the story's reference to Psalm 40:2 are John 4 and Luke 19:10.
Cow's a-thirstin'
Pinin' for water to drink
Oblivious to the peril
The slough into which it will sink.
He lurches in
Wallows into its doom
Buzzards now circlin'
Coyotes lurk and loom.
Cow's a-dyin'
As it struggles and strains
It needs a savior
Frantic efforts are in vain.
Upon the horizon
A lone figure appears
Hoof beats thunderin'
As his presence draws near.
He rides across the prairies
He rides across the fields
He rides to every watering hole
Urgency nipping at his heels.
In the muck, in the filth, in the miry clay
Seekin' those who have gone astray
He journeys far; he journeys long
As the bog rider rides on.
He slogs into the quagmire
A rope and shovel in his hands
Links cow to horse
Part of the deliverance he has planned.
He digs into the devilish morass
Pushes down and deep
Mudded hope builds with each motion
Salvation at a price so steep.
Freedom's finally fulfilled
As cowboy and horse heave and haul
Cow bounds away
Restored from its great fall.
Cowboy's grimy
Covered in sludge and scum
Cowboy's victorious
The powers of death he has overcome.
He wades out
Saddles up for another expedition
Dogged and relentless
Finding the lost is his mission.
In the muck, in the filth, in the miry clay
Seekin' those who have gone astray
He journeys far; he journeys long
And the bog rider rides on and on.