The townsfolk called him John Smith for they didn’t know his name
But even so, ‘round here, at least, that moniker has fame
It wasn’t how he dressed or spoke or slouched down at the bar
And no one knew what thoughts were runnin’ underneath that scar
He’d come from out of town one day, and no one knew from where
His unassuming face had just arrived and sat down there
The gazes from his shaded eyes dispelled no mysteries
That piercing stare could stop a room as if a glance could freeze
The bold ones would approach to ask about his early life
And one fine daring lady went and asked to be his wife
But all they ever heard from him was mild and polite
Refusals cloaked in honeyed words, that shed no drop of light
He worked an odd job here and there, enough to pay his rent
But no one ever knew where all the rest was being spent
‘til one day sheriff said he’d had enough of the disguise
And sat John Smith right down and said “you think you’re pretty wise”
“But I know that you’re hiding underneath that stolid veil
So out with it! Just tell me, what’s your sordid tale”
And with that sentence, up the stranger stood
He walked away from this here town, twas never understood
He left behind a Spanish coin, enough to pay his lease
Wherever he has ended up, I hope he found his peace
I don’t know why, but I feel confident that the Spanish coin that he paid with is the same one that Santiago, from the Alchemist used/discovered. I don’t remember the book very well at all, thought it was sorta strange when I did read it, and found the Wikipedia summarykind of sketch, but regardless, although the setting of the poem is an Old West bartender talking to his son about a stranger that visited their town, somehow it all connects.
(and by sure, I mean that it makes very little sense on any level, and alternative explanations like “he was an escaped convict” or “he was just built different and found a Spanish coin while in the desert because the Spanish have roots in the western US” or “he found the lost city of gold which for some reason had been discovered and colonized by the Spanish who initially planned on coining a bunch of Spanish money before realizing that would be incredibly inflationary and so agreed to slowly release the gold and live in secret luxury, and he had been allowed to leave the city alive, but only with a tiny amount of gold and the assurance that if he ever revealed the location of the city that he would be killed and that the searchers wouldn’t find it, even with his directions” — ok that last one is gas, maybe that’s the real reason he had a Spanish coin (he’s still canonically named Santiago though))