howdy Buster Scruggs, with your spurred boots
hanging in the air indifferently
as Dan trots among the mesas grazing the red sands of time
howdy Dan, you bring your fated passenger
as the valley sings around you
to a bartender’s last pour
howdy bartender, your cantina your shell
you believe invincible
as Surly Joe thought his draw
howdy Surly Joe, against a dead man’s hand
your iron triumphed by wood
makes your brother wail
howdy brother, your head clouded
with a debt for vengeance
that can only be collected by the man in black
howdy man in black, your harmonica a scythe
to close the pages
of Buster Scruggs’ book.