The Cowboy Cantos - Cowboy Poetry & Stories

Sometimes the smallest things we carry through life become the things we treasure most.

In this episode of Cowboy Cantos, Jason Curtman tells the story of a simple two-buck bill tucked safely away in a cowboy’s wallet. Through good years and lean ones, long roads, changing seasons, joys, losses, and the passing of time, that little bill remains right where it has always been.

It isn’t worth a fortune. It was never meant to be.

But some things have a value that can’t be measured by the number printed on them.

The Two-Buck Bill: Still Riding With Me is a warm, nostalgic Cowboy Cantos story about the things we keep, the memories they carry, and why sometimes the smallest treasures are the hardest ones to let go.

A Liberty Heritage Radio Production.

A week ago on Cowboy Cantos, Jason offered one particularly important piece of cowboy advice about owning a good pocket knife: whatever you do, don’t lend it to Joe.

Well, Joe heard about it.

And apparently, he’d like a chance to defend himself.

In this follow-up episode, we finally hear Joe’s side of the story. According to Joe, he has never stolen a pocket knife in his life. He simply has a slightly different understanding of how long a man is allowed to borrow one.

There’s Jake’s knife from 2006, a few more scattered around the house and shed, and even a milk crate full of knives clearly marked “Borrowed, But Mine Now Instead.”

By the time Joe finishes explaining himself, he may not have cleared his name, but he has discovered one advantage to having everybody else’s pocket knives:

If you need one, he’d be happy to loan you one.

The Moral: A Good Friend Will Loan You His Pocket Knife. A Better Friend Will Eventually Give It Back.

Every cowboy knows there are some things worth keeping close at hand, and a good pocket knife is one of them.

In this episode of Cowboy Cantos, Jason Curtman takes a humorous look at what makes a pocket knife worth carrying. It doesn’t have to be fancy, polished, or expensive. It just needs to feel right in a hard-working hand, stand up to years of use, and hopefully turn up again when you forget where you put it.

There’s a little cowboy wisdom tucked in among the laughs, too. Scratches and wear aren’t always signs that something needs replacing. Sometimes they’re proof that it has served you well.

And there’s one more lesson every cowboy ought to remember: if you’ve got something you really want to keep, think twice before lending it to Joe.

The Moral: Fancy Don’t Make Something Dependable. Taking Care Of It Does.

A great steak can make a cowboy mighty happy. But when that steak is barely big enough to get started, even the best supper can leave a man pondering one of life’s important questions: Where’s the rest of the beef?

Inspired by a real supper at the Curtman household, Jason turns a couple of delicious but undersized steaks into a humorous cowboy tale about beef, marriage, proper portions, and knowing when it might be wise to choose your words carefully.

The real conversation went a little differently. Jason’s wife agreed that the steaks were too small. But with a little poetic license, a simple supper becomes a marital negotiation over just how much steak ought to occupy a cowboy’s plate.

Because you can patch your boots, wear your old jeans, pinch your pennies, and make do with less in plenty of places.

But sometimes...

Life Is Worth The Bigger Steaks.

What did the American West look like a hundred years ago?

In A Hundred Summers Back, a cowboy pauses on a desert rise as daylight fades and begins imagining another rider who might have stopped in that very place a century before. The roads have changed, towns have grown, and the modern world has reached even the quietest corners of the West. But the mountains, wind, stars, coyotes, and evening sky seem remarkably untouched by time.

It’s a reflection on the generations who traveled this country before us, the generations yet to come, and those rare places where a hundred years suddenly doesn’t seem like very long at all.

Cowboy Cantos is original cowboy poetry and storytelling inspired by the people, landscapes, humor, hardships, and enduring spirit of the American West.

For more cowboy poetry, visit cowboycantos.com and libertyheritageradio.com.

Some horses are stubborn. Some are ornery. And then there was Ben’s roan, a horse that simply couldn’t quit grinnin’.

Morning or night, rain or shine, that old horse kept flashing his teeth like he knew something nobody else did. Ben tried everything he could think of to wipe that suspicious smile off his face, but nothing worked.

Then one unfortunate night, Ben finally discovered what his horse had been waiting for.

In this lighthearted edition of Cowboy Cantos, Jason Curtman brings you an original cowboy poem about a grinning horse, an embarrassed cowboy, and a little range-country wisdom worth remembering:

Wear a grin, flash those pearlies, and you just might find yourself a happier pasture.

A Liberty Heritage Radio production.

Wilber always swore his hearing was just fine. That is, until the boss told him to shut the gate and Wilber answered with a comment about the weather.

In this episode of Cowboy Cantos, Jason Curtman shares a little inspiration from his own recent experience getting hearing aids, then introduces us to Wilber, an old cowboy who discovers a whole world of sounds he didn’t know he was missing.

From cowbells and raindrops to creaky knees, a noisy horse, and a wife reminding him about unfinished chores, Wilber soon discovers there might just be such a thing as hearing too well.

The moral: Be thankful for what you can hear, but don’t forget to enjoy the quiet.

Cowboy Cantos features original cowboy poems and stories written and performed by Jason Curtman.

For more cowboy poems and stories, visit CowboyCantos.com and Liberty Heritage Radio.

A Liberty Heritage Radio Production

NOTES:A tired cowboy finishes a long day’s work and finds himself captivated by a brilliant full moon rising over an Arizona ridge. As the cattle settle and the desert grows quiet, he pauses to admire God’s handiwork and wonders how the Lord managed to hang such a magnificent lantern in the heavens.

But while our cowboy has his eyes fixed on the sky, he isn’t paying quite enough attention to what’s underneath him.

A lighthearted Cowboy Cantos tale about appreciating the beauty of creation, keeping your boots planted firmly on the ground, and discovering that sometimes the best views really are better standing up.

What happens when the toughest dog on the ranch has one fear he just can’t shake?

In this lighthearted Cowboy Cantos original, Jason Curtman shares the story of a hardworking cowdog who’ll push cattle through mesquite, stand up to stubborn longhorns, and even bluff a hungry coyote. But when the Arizona sun slips below the horizon, his fearless reputation begins to unravel.

Written in the spirit of Baxter Black, this humorous cowboy poem reminds us that even the bravest among us have a weakness or two. Sometimes the biggest surprise isn’t what we’re afraid of... it’s discovering that we’re not alone.

So saddle up, settle in, and enjoy another tale from the cowboy way of life.

Cowboy Cantos is a Liberty Heritage Radio production.

What happens when a proud old trail cook runs out of time and reaches for a can of store-bought biscuits?

He expects groans, complaints, and maybe a little good-natured ribbing from the cowboys around the campfire. Instead, he gets something far worse...

Compliments.

In this lighthearted Cowboy Canto, Jason Curtman shares the tale of a chuckwagon cook whose greatest embarrassment wasn’t that he took a shortcut—it was discovering everyone liked it.

Filled with cowboy humor, campfire charm, and a lesson that reaches far beyond the trail, The Biscuits Nobody Was Supposed To Like reminds us that sometimes our greatest struggle isn’t taking the shortcut. It’s accepting that the shortcut accomplished exactly what needed to be done.

Moral: Sometimes we take shortcuts because time demands it, and we’re surprised by how well others receive the work. The hardest part isn’t taking the shortcut... it’s accepting that sometimes the shortcut works just fine.

Cowboy Cantos is a Liberty Heritage Radio production, where every poem carries a smile, a story, and a little wisdom from the Old West. For more Cowboy poetry and stories, visit CowboyCantos.com and LibertyHeritageRadio.com.