Billy the Kid

Though his life started out so hearty,
to a life of crime turned Henry McCarty.
Born in New York in September of 1859.
At age of 15 he started showing a sign.

Stole clothes and food at 16, his first crime.
After that is reputation started to climb.
Killed his first man when he was only 17.
After that he turned into a killing machine.

There were lots of stories about things he did.
Things about William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid.
He was tough and mean and never backed down.
There would be trouble when Billy was in town.

Rumored to killed 21 men before his 21st year.
The trains and the banks had nothing to fear.
He only killed people who made him mad
or to get something he wanted that they had.

In April of 1881 he made a famous jailbreak.
He was scheduled to hang, his life was at stake.
He slipped out of his cuffs and stole him a gun.
Killed a couple of guards and was on the run.

He was free for months but it wasn’t his style
to stay out of sight and to keep a low profile.
Pat Garrett shot him at the house of Pete Maxwell.
Shot through the heart, he died where he fell.

Though dead and buried, the rumors soon began
that maybe Pat Garrett had shot the wrong man.
People talk but no matter what they said or did
it would not change the outcome of Billy the Kid.
--

This poem is based on information found in Wikipedia, Britannica and The History Channel websites.