I Went Out Searching, For John Ford Dreams Poem by Smoky Hoss

I went out for a smoke
said I'd be back soon,
I went out a year ago last friday
got swept away by the stars and the moon.
A man goes out searching
searching for what's unseen,
he goes out in search of
unknown dreams-
I went out to find
where my darling Clementine travelled,
and Ethan Edwards
unravelled-
I went out seeking meaning
in wide-open spaces,
but found all the old ghosts had left
long ago riding, for much wilder places-
I went out under
a dark high-noon sun,
I went out alone
with no bullets for my gun-
I went out looking
for some flowering dreams,
but like a cut rose on a coffin
they had to be killed, just to be seen-
I went out searching
for the Western-soul of old John Ford,
I went to Monument Valley, sat on his point
and listened... as the wind roared-
I went out to shoot Liberty Valance
under cover of night,
but I couldn't pull the trigger when I realized
Pappy's genius: Good and bad look exactly alike,
in black-n-white-
I went out searching for that something
man can never quite find:
a contented heart, and
a satisfied mind-
I went out looking
for my lost faith in the ideal;
I went out to find
if I could still feel.

- seek not to follow in the footsteps of the men of old;
rather, seek what they sought. - Gautama Buddha