Joseph Buehler


The Lone Ranger

Some years ago, the Lone Ranger (w/out Tonto), dressed in his form fitting light gray colored outfit and wearing his white cowboy hat and masked, of course, told us, his audience, that he would not quick draw his revolvers and fire them off into the air above our heads. I don’t remember the reason he gave, but I’m sure that the crowd was just as disappointed about it as I was.

We were all standing outside in the warm Florida sunshine. He was appearing at the behest of some car dealership or other. He recited his memorized spiel and then took some questions from the audience.

His TV series must have been cancelled by that point in time, but, as we all are very much aware, re-runs play on forever. So there he was, the Lone Ranger, the star of all of those exciting fast moving half hour TV scripts. (By the way, I’ve figured out that he and Tonto must have been independently wealthy because they never accepted any renumeration from anybody for all of their dangerously heroic services. They would just ride away empty handed with a “Hi ho Silver!” exit line resounding loudly in the western TV air. )

When he was through with everything he had to say, the Lone Ranger waved good bye to all of us and left the makeshift stage. He probably wanted to go somewhere for supper. Where was he going to go after that? Would he depart to make other appearances in the parking lots of other car dealerships or would he just catch a plane and fly home to California or to wherever he happened to be living in those days?

The latest journals Joseph Buehler has published in are The Poet Magazine, Ariel Chart and BOMBFIRE.

 
 

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