
1 minute read
Island Cowboy
from BIPOC Lenses Issue 2
by bipoclenses
By Sam Llanillo
The Island Cowboy is probably the strangest of the bunch. The least important reason is that he looks more like an Indian than a cowboy, but not for lack of trying. He dresses like John Wayne staring through a cloudless blue sky, rescuing a white girl from a group of savages. Oh yes, the Island Cowboy is a regular John Wayne; his stetson is his prized possession, and he carries a .22 revolver with six scratches on it, one for each Joe. Joe can’t see the scratches or even begin to decipher their meaning before he becomes the seventh. The Island Cowboy has a quick hand. One thing you need to know about the Island Cowboy is that he is not like Joe. Joe wants to tame the Indian’s land for himself. The Island Cowboy only cares about his island. It was a good island, lush greens and shallow blues and sandy yellows. But he doesn’t live on his island any more, he lives on the Indian’s land. So he pays the Indian and he tries to stay away from Joe. You can probably tell by now that the Island
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Cowboy doesn’t like Joe very much. In fact, the
Island Cowboy hates Joe, but he loves Joe’s things.
Joe has so many wonderful things, like baseball and apple pie and a red cadillac. Joe doesn’t really like to give his things for free, though. He only likes to barter and trade. So it was decided one day that the Island Cowboy would trade his island for some things.
You might say the Island
Cowboy isn’t a real cowboy, at least not anymore, and maybe he never was. He’s a lot smaller than the other cowboys, and he thinks one of these days, they’re all going to finally kill him. He never could beat Joe at his own game, but he likes to think he won just by playing it.
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