Apologies To Robert W. Service
written by: roger turner
@titansdad
There’s a tale that is told
In the night Yukon cold
Of the shooting of Dan Mc Grew
The truth as it’s known
Is a legend that’s grown
And the truth is known by very few
It’s twenty years on
The Malamutes gone
There’s nobody left from that night
But there’s talk of some gold
That sometimes is told
Of what happened just after the fight
There is word of a bar
“The New Yukon Star”
And a fellow down there who can play
The place it is grand
The best in the land
And it’s found down by Old Frisco Bay
Now, remember the poke
Of McGrew’s the tale spoke
And what happened when Dan was now dead
From his neck it was freed
And the poke held the deed
To Dangerous Dan’s claim it was said
When the Northern lights glow
Bringing life to the snow
They say that old Dan walks again
But twenty years past
Dan took that breath, yes, his last
And left the world of mortal men
Now, the saloon down in Frisco
With a barkeep named Cisco
Had a picture of Dan on the wall
They say that his ghost
Makes it smile when you toast
Dan McGrew when it is last call
A traveller came
And remembered Dan’s name
One night as he sat with his drink
The piano was loud
And he saw through the crowd
A face, which made the man think
He once was a cop
And on occasion did stop
At the bar when Dan McGrew died
He looked at the face
But wasn’t sure of the place
That he knew it, but damn boys he tried
There’s a place saved in hell
For those under the spell
Of those who cheated out old Dan McGrew
In the stories it’s told
how his poke with his gold
Was stolen by someone he knew
Think of the name
Of the one living with shame
From Dan’s last night beneath the north star
Just who could build
A place always filled
A hotel and a popular bar
There on the stair
With long silvery hair
Through cigar smoke that made the air blue
Was the girl who once danced
And had Dan entranced
The girl known only as Lou
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
Sequel telling where the girl named Lou from the poem The Shooting of Dan McGrew of Robert W. Service ended up
- The Poppy Man - November 11, 2024
- Oceans Away - October 10, 2024
- The Wild West - August 2, 2024
