"Tribute to a Fallen Agent "

by Doug Mosier, El Paso Sector

A sound of bagpipes

rises from the open plain

the melody is

haunting

like the muffled cries of a

child

we are drawn to this

holy ground

to honor one of our own,

cradling them one last time

before conceding their journey

into forever

full-gun volley,

he is now immortalized,

sweat and blood

stitched in every flag's fold

in that instant, his legacy

takes flight to the

next generation

huddling by his side

just as his father...

and his father before him.

on the border,

he still rides the plains

on horseback

or battered four-wheel drive

with that wry grin, and

the seasoned edge of a

desert cowboy

in the end, his patience

is what prevailed

over formidable adversaries

who learned to listen to the

Rio Grande

through canyons to the sea

we will remember the quiet warrior

still clad in green,

spit shined and

salty as earth

lifeblood of the border

for 85 years,

your tales have spun

like so many MGM classics;

winded palaminos and

chance encounters with

liquor runners

and drug whores

now your pistol and chaps

lie in wait

remembering your vigilance

like the day that man killed John

in Dallas.

too many heroes for a single wake

none more fallen than the next,

and still we look for your spirit

in desert arroyos,

soggy wetlands

or in the soft glow of

twisting northern lights.

It is their way

never lost, and

never, ever forgotten.

~cbp~