True Grit

My name is Mattie Ross and I hail from Yell County In the state of Arkansas living, on a ranch with family At the age of fourteen I suffered personal tragedy When my father Frank Ross was taken from me. By a lazy good for nothing drifter that he had hired And if it had been me in charge he would have been fired. That drifter went by the name of Tom Chaney Who was down on his luck, and whom my father took pity. He was quite a devious man with a black mark on his face And to me, he was nothing short of a disgrace He was never around when there was work to be done And I'd often catch him sitting out in the sun. Father wanted to buy ponies, break them in and sell them on And he asked Tom Chaney if he'd like to ride along He went with father to Fort Smith, a busy fur trading town Then got drunk, lost money gambling and shot my father down. He stole money left over that father had to buy ponies And also two lucky gold pieces as he fell to his knees He left him dying in the dirt then managed to get away And for that heinous crime I vowed he would pay. Next day I went to town and asked the Sheriff to help me But said he wouldnt be able to raise a posse Because he didn't have jurisdiction in the Indian nation And added Judge Parkers marshals, might help my situation. I asked who the best was? he said "Rooster Cogburn is his name Wears an eye patch, likes a drink but he's the best in the game He's bringing prisoners in later from the county today He'll sure get the job done, but you'll have to pay". I waited outside the courthouse until he came out A tall man with an eyepatch and he was quite stout I said " Mr Cogburn I have a proposal for you I want you to find my fathers killer, you'll be paid what your due". He agreed but said that he'd rather go it alone That it could turn out quite dangerous and that I should go home On the scene arrived a Texas ranger, by the name of LaBeouf He too was after Chaney saying, he was a wanted killer and thief. I was determined to go with them, they tried to ride off without me But I was determined to be there when they arrested Chaney Out on the trail we found out, he'd joined lucky Ned Peppers gang A bunch of murdering outlaws who should all hang. We made camp and I went to the river, for water to make coffee But I slipped down a slope and there before me stood Chaney I tried to shoot him with father's colt dragoon gun But it jamned and Chaney grabbed me before I could run. He took me back to their camp and Ned's gang rode away But Rooster heavily armed was standing in their way A gunfight ensued Rooster shot most of the gang dead And with his rifle from the hillside LaBeouf shot lucky Ned. LaBeouf came in to Ned's camp and Chaney hit him over the head And as he fell to the ground I prayed that he wasn't dead I picked up father's gun and fired , Chaney was hit The recoil sent me backwards and I fell into a snake pit. LaBeouf came to and pulled me out of the pit And from the mark on my arm noticed that I'd been bit Meanwhile Rooster returned and saw my snake bite He picked me up and rode, all day and all night. He managed to get me to the town doctor, who then saved my life But I lost my left arm to his sharp surgical knife LaBeouf made a good recovery, with just a scar where he'd been hit And I'll never forget him and Rooster, both men with true grit. Written 9th March 2021 Inspired by the novel True Grit by Charles Portis and the movie of the same name made in 1969 that starred John Wayne, Glen Campbell and Kim Darby. There was a remake of True Grit in 2010 starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and Hailee Steinfield.