Bat Masterson Poem by Joe Rosochacki

Gene Barry died the other day.
He was a TV actor, he played Burke on Burke's Law and Bat Masterson.
He died at 90 years-old his life ceased but his memories live on.
I grew up with him you might say.
My grandmother, my 'Babci', as we called her in Polish,
(she was a young girl who came to the US in 1913)
-had a thing for westerns on TV.
That little 19' Philco black and white set filled her imagination you see.
She viewed at times,
'Bonanza', 'Bat Masterson', 'Rawhide', Gunsmoke', 'Maverick' and 'Have Gun Will Travel',
She was fascinated with wild west, horses cowboys and the scenery,
- and the plots the shows would eventually unravel.
Gene Barry was amongst many protagonist that would prevail.
With silver-headed cane, Bat Masterson, would make it right again,
-in a twenty-two minute episode.
(Today we have CSI's (Las Vegas, New York, Miami) and Law & Order
(Special Victims Unit) Criminal Minds, and NCIS (NCIS-LA) solving crimes within a 45-48 minute episode.)
But back to Gene Barry, he was a gracious man,
I imagine that he lived well enough to get ninety years old.
He didn't OD and he didn't drink his liver out of function.
I will always remember Gene Barry,
I will always remember my 'Bat Masterson cane'.

12-13-09