Cowboy Poet Always Eager To Rhyme Into The Sunset

Les Buffham doesn’t see himself as an authentic cowboy, despite growing up on a Colorado ranch and spending a few years breaking horses and announcing rodeos.

“I’m more of a has-been,” says Buffham, who now travels the country as a cowboy poet. “I was there for really a brief moment in time. I didn’t even think of myself as a cowboy. I was just a ranch kid.”

Buffham will be appearing with western singer D.W. Stamey on Friday for a performance at Spokane Falls Community College. Stamey sings songs that date back to the cowboy days, such as “Strawberry Roan” and “Along the Navajo Trail.”

Cowboy poetry is really just telling stories about personal experiences that rhyme, says Buffham. “Cowboys were doing that for lack of any other entertainment,” he says.

His poems are set to the pace of a horse going clippity-clop, says Buffham. “My stuff’s pretty slow because I rode slow horses,” he jokes.

Buffham’s poems have a lyrical quality that is pleasing to the ear, something not easily conveyed by the written word. The following lines are from one of Buffham’s poems, titled “Just a Cowboy.”

“And lookin’ back now I’m not sorry For any of the things that I’ve missed For I’ve stood and watched the birthin’ of dawn Over snowcapped peaks the Sun has just kissed.”

There was a time when Buffham wanted nothing to do with ranching or being a cowboy. Several bad experiences he had while working on ranches made him want nothing to do with the lifestyle. For a while he worked as a trucker. Then a friend introduced him to cowboy poetry. Nostalgia set in and he began writing. “It seemed like a whole lot of stuff was pent up,” he says.

He turned professional in 1992 and has since released two albums. His most recent, “Just an Old Cowboy,” is from 1994. He is currently working on a new album and a book.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Les Buffham and D.W. Stamey will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Spokane Falls Community College’s Music Auditorium, 3410 W. Fort George Wright Drive. Tickets are $5, available in advance at Olsen Brothers Clothing, Horse and Habit, and Tandy Leather.