William H.A. Willbond MSM, CD

CLIFFHANGER

We children watched the Serials of Lash La Rue
Hoppy, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers too
Every Saturday at the Rexy Movie Matinee
We waited all week long for the serial play

The stagecoach appeared to go over the cliff;
All week long we wondered what happened to it.
There stood the strutting cowboy, not wanting to brag
He had saved the pretty school marm by a leap to a crag!

The shoot-outs half ended in the dusty western street
Next Saturday we’d find out that the bad guy was beat
Good guys like the lone ranger always wore a white hat
And the Bad guys wore black, can you imagine that?

Black and White subtle hints of what’s good and what’s bad
Under-currents of racism – these themes are quite sad
As the Indians surrounded the white man’s wagon train
Next Saturday we found out that the Cavalry came!

We now know what really happened at the battle of Wounded Knee
Those old serials – they lied young children like me!
First Nation’s Peoples were treated inhumanly bad
The movie version of history was untrue and quite sad!

The cliff-hanger serials they are still with us today
In the daily TV soap operas, they continue to play
One has to tune in tomorrow to find out of course,
Who’s been sleeping with whom and who got a divorce?

Submitted for the February 2007 IWVPA Club Theme Project, “Cliffhanger”