The Ballad of Dollar Bill the Bandit

Dollar Bill was the meanest cuss
Who ever rode the West
But Jamie didn’t know that
She only saw his best.

His saddle silver studded
His mount a golden brown
His hat cocked on his forehead
His holsters both tied down.

She wanted Bill, she knew it.
Her heart took aim like a gun
As he spurred his mount to a gallop,
As he sank out of sight in the sun

He’ll cool me when I’m hot, she said.
He’ll warm me when I’m cold.
He’ll make me what I’m not, she said.
He’ll keep me when I’m old.

She said goodbye to her children
She saddled her pinto mare
She felt no shame in the leaving
Of dust and wind and care

Half the night she rode poor Pet
She’d thought her heart would fail
Through red-rimmed eyes she glimpsed
Bill’s horse hitched up to a wooden rail

His saddle silver studded
His mount a golden brown
His hat cocked on the pommel
His rifle tightly bound

She found Bill in a poker game
He leaned back in his chair
His face was hard, his eyes the same
She wondered, Would he care?

He’ll cool me when I’m hot, she said.
He’ll warm me when I’m cold.
He’ll make me what I’m not, she said.
To him…my soul is sold.

I love you, Dollar Bill, she said.
I’ll give you all my heart.
I’ll cook and clean and share your bed
From you, I’ll never part

And Dollar Bill, he grunted
And cuffed her on the chin
And for his horse he hunted
As Jamie followed him

And Jamie loved her robber swain
She loved with all her might
For him, she bore three sons in pain,
Named Fear and Need and Blight

His saddle studs grown rusty
His mount now thin and old
His sweat-stained hat so dusty
He sold his guns for food

And Jamie, once so quick and bright,
had weakened with the years
Her sons, unchastened, stole her light
And left her in her tears

When her hair was streaked with white,
And when her cheeks turned gray,
Bill up and left her in the night
He left her there to say,

“You thought he’d cool you when it’s hot,
You thought he’d warm you in the cold,
He’s gone because he loved you not
Gone and left now that you’re old.

Or, to put it another way,

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 1 Timothy 6:10