Lonesome

Civil War Tin Cup
Photo from
liveauctioneers.com

homely vessel
this antique tin cup
battered dented
black bottomed
from too many
campfires burning
on too many trails
rinsed too often
in sulfurous pools

muddied coffee
or watery whiskey
chased choke dust
from leather lipped
mouth-breathing
maw given over
to sighs for that
long ago time
when the ride
was less lonely

when saddlebags
bulged with sweet
purpose and travel
was mounted for
real destinations
not merely to
wander in aimless
perpetual motion