Come, list'ners, lend your ears, my story's strange,
Befitting those immortal bards of old
Whose words illuminate our lives and change
Them for the better. Let the tale be told...
A darker villain never rode the range
Than he whose deeds within these rhymes unfold;
His beard, his garb, his heart all deepest black,
That dev'lish desperado, Cactus Jack.
No laden stage-coach rattling 'cross the plain
But Jack would storm from ambush, guns a-thunder.
A wealthy ranch, a gold-dust bearing train,
Wherever there was wealth, Jack sought his plunder.
And bankers strove to keep their cash in vain;
With dynamite Jack blew their safes asunder.
Seems Cassidy and James could not contest
With Cactus Jack, the scourge of all the west.
Good times don't last forever, as you know,
And Cactus found his fortunes fading fast.
His friends all fled, finances running low,
The outlaw fell on desp'rate times at last.
On fickle fate he'd risk one final throw
For free and easy fare to riches vast.
In braver days such foolery he'd scorn;
Now Cactus Jack the kidnapper was born.
The prey he chose, a puny, tow-haired lad,
The son and heir to cattle baron, Jed,
Was safely bundled up, and to his Dad
A ransom note was left that simply read:
"There's twenty thousand dollars I need bad.
Now pay up quick or Tom will soon be dead."
"It's easy money," chortled Cactus Jack,
And grinning to himself untied the sack.
A whirling dervish burst from forth the bag,
"I want my Dad. Where are we? What is that?
Is that your horse? He's such a scrawny nag.
I want my Mom. You've squashed my brand new hat.
Is that your gun? Why do your holsters sag?
My Dad will save me; he'll just knock you flat!
I'm hungry. What's for dinner.? Ring the bell.
Are you a bad man? Bad men go to Hell."
And thus for days such torment Jack endured,
For morning, noon and night the youngster prattled.
A week - the ransom hadn't been procured;
His nerves were gone, his sanity was rattled.
At last he cried, "Of kidnapping I'm cured!
For never have I such a critter battled."
He quickly penned a note, "Please take him back.
I can't take this no more, Yours, Cactus Jack."
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| Writing Prompt |
An Ottava Rima is written in 8-line octives with a syllable count of 10 or 11 syllables per line. There can be just one octive or multiple octives.
The rhyme pattern for one octive is: abababcc
The rhyme pattern for two octives is: abababcc, dededeff
The rhymes pattern for three octives is: abababcc, dededeff, ghghghii
...and so forth.
For this contest a minimum of one octive is required.
The poem can be on any topic.
For an example on how to write an Ottava Rima visit www.shadowpoetry.com. |
Author Notes
loosely based on a story by the master, O. Henry
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