California Dates
 
Sam Bass once had some tuna, up near Monterey
rode his horse to Riverside, to eat an orange one day
 
then told a friend named Pawnee Bill, "I'd best be on my way."
Bill said, "Sam, before you go back to Texas, stay
 
I know a place where dates are served on a silver tray."
Scratching his head and thinking, he saddled up his bay
 
Isn't that what Ali Baba ate, after an exciting fray?
Visions of an oasis, lots of dates and desert play
 
led Sam and Bill to Indio, via train, the Santa Fe.
But the sheriff said, "Sorry boys, leave without delay."
 
Back to Texas they went riding, no taste of dates that day.
Ahead lay cold corn fritters, that was the outlaw way.
 
Left behind, that California, and dates upon a tray.
©Steve Dirksen