Brokeback Cooper

My favorite spot to zero in on
while zoning out in my office
is the High Noon poster on the wall.
The story of a man too proud to run.

And for the first time, I pause,
to think about what Gary Cooper
was really thinking by turning around.
Is it really a story about a man and his pride?

The difficulty with this statement,
the catch in packing the entire film
into this one summarizing sentence,
is it's failure to mention Princess Grace.

The disappointing story of a man
lacking the sense of eyesight and,
the horrible faux pas of turning around,
to leave a nineteen year old Grace Kelly.

If only he had kept driving that wagon,
there may be a large enough gap
for Princess Grace to escape
her horrible fate.