August Conscience

August Conscience

A Cowboy Poem by Alan Nafzger

Think you can outrun a bad decision, go ahead and try,
but do it in August under a west Texas sky.
The heat’ll hit you sideways before you find your stride,
and the decision’s running right behind you with a longer ride.

Bad choices got good legs — they trained while you were sleeping,
they stretched and ate their breakfast while you were not yet keeping
track of what you’d done wrong or what was coming due —
in August every consequence catches up with you.

The conscience is a slow thing in the comfort of the fall,
but August burns away the comfort and the mercy and the stall.
There’s nowhere cool to hide a thing you did that wasn’t square,
the heat strips every cover off and leaves the whole thing bare.

So do it right the first time when the doing can be done,
before the reckoning comes running underneath the August sun.
Your conscience and the temperature will find you in the end —
and in Texas in the summer boy both of them don’t bend.

If you think you can outrun a bad decision, try doin’ it in August… heat’ll catch you before your conscience does.

I’m Alan Nafzger. Appreciate ya!

Last Updated on April 11, 2026 by Alan Nafzger