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May/June, 2008
"Art Spur" is a project at CowboyPoetry.com that invites poets to let selections of Western art inspire their poetry. One of the recent subjects was a piece drawn by the popular Pat Richardson (sometimes known as "the bad boy of cowboy poetry"). In addition to being a top poet, Pat's an accomplished artist who has contributed illustrations and cartoons to The Pro Rodeo Sports News and other publications. His drawing was of "Sammy," a mule who "belonged to Doc Clarke, the famous horse vet in Petaluma, California."
Pat Richardson told a bit about Sammy: "Doc used to team rope off him. He heeled and did pretty good for never getting to practice much. Old Sammy was about the nicest mule I ever was around. Doc had to give him a tetanus shot once and Sammy threw a fit. Doc said, 'I don't blame him, he's only human.' And I think that attitude is why Doc got along with animals as well as he did."
Pat particularly admired one of the poems selected from many submissions, "Packin' Sammy," by Arkansas rancher Michael Henley:© 2008, Michael Henley, All rights reservedPackin' Sammy
Don't put that meat on Lucy
cause she don't take to blood.
And probably not on Kate
she ain't travelin' like she should.
Pay heed behind Lil' Satan boys
you know that outlaw kicks.
Don't put no dudes on Molly
Bob say's she'll buck off ticks.
Picket Dan with hobbles on
he's bad to want to roam.
If he takes a notion boys
he'll beat us all back home.
Slick's the stoutest thing we got
but he's a chore to pack.
With a belly like a barrel stove
and that hog ridge on his back.
Don't tail the roan to Shilo cause
them two don't get along.
This is a damn fine pack string
so gents don't take me wrong.
Just put the quarters on Ol' Sammy
and girt that decker tight.
Then start him down the trail
and he'll take it down all right.
Nope, you don't need to lead him
cause he's seen the trail before
and he won't cause no problems
he always accepts the chore.
He'll be standin' at the trailers
when we all cross Eagle Creek.
He'll be the first into camp boys
when we start 'em back next week.
See he's the one I seem count on
when the tough works needin' done.
When it has to be done perfect
Sammy's gonna be the one.
Packin' dudes or catchin' calves.
Pullin' feed sleds in the snow.
Sammy's never shirked a task.
He's never told me no.
Cause of that he gets mistreated
overused while others coast.
Seems we put our biggest burdens
on the ones we trust the most.
Michael Henley’s poem was also selected as one of "8 Seconds" in the most recent Lariat Laureate competition at CowboyPoetry.com. Michael commented on the poem's inspiration: "I've often used pack stock as examples of how we mistreat the folks in this life who we count on the most. The most trusted child, sibling, friend or employee will get the call on all the tough stuff and it's sure true with our horses and mules. I saw the great Art Spur sketch and thought of Ron Dube's outstanding pack string in Wyoming and the 'politics' of who went where in the string before beginning a 26-mile, one-way trip."
The First Annual Golden Spike Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival takes place May 8-10, 2008 in Ogden, Utah, with headliners Belinda Gail and Curly Musgrave, the Bar-J Wranglers, and Baxter Black. They'll be joined by many musicians and a number of poets and reciters, including Jerry Brooks, Jo Lynne Kirkwood, Smoke Wade, Sam Tixier, Bob Urry, Bob Christiansen, Don Kennington, Phil Kennington, and Brenda "Sam" DeLeeuw.
Sam DeLeeuw is a frequent performer at events around the West. She's a founding member and past Chairman of the Board and past President of the Cowboy Poets of Utah, and President of the Utah chapter of the Western Music Association, active with the WMA Youth Chapter. Sam is also a past "Lariat Laureate" at CowboyPoetry.com. "Spring" is the poem for which she won that status, a poem just right for the season:Spring
When cold grey clouds take flight
Chased off by azure blue,
And rigid earth gives way
To desert life anew...
When cactus blossom hues
Adorn the desert sand,
When wild grass turns green
Across a barren land...
When heifers, bawling low,
Announce new life at dawn,
When crusted ice and snow
Shine bright and then are gone...
When mares with early foals,
Stand guard against the wind,
And show their growing ire,
Heads high, with ears laid pinned...
When hawks and eagles fly
Then hover overhead,
And guard their feathered nests
In cliffs of desert red...
When howling chants arise
From wolf pups in the night,
When antelope downwind
Are spooked and bolt in flight...
Warmth comes to the prairie ...
When sun rays stretch their arms,
Magic fills the senses....
When Springtime shares her charms!
© 2006, Brenda "Sam" DeLeeuw, All rights reservedSam has a recent CD of her original poems, Spreadin' Sunshine, available for $18 postpaid from: Sam DeLeeuw, 510 West 500 South, Manti, Utah 84642; 435-835-8662
There's poetry and information about hundreds of cowboy poets and Western musicians at CowboyPoetry.com. It's an on-going gathering, with continuous news, features, event calendars, the best in classic and contemporary cowboy poetry and Western music lyrics, and a free email newsletter.
The BAR-D Roundup: Volume III CD includes poems recited by Robert Service, Red Steagall, Wallace McRae, Paul Zarzyski, Randy Rieman, Ross Knox, Jerry Brooks, Buck Ramsey, Joel Nelson, Ken Cook, Doris Daley, DW Groethe, Yvonne Hollenbeck, Paul Kern, Linda Kirkpatrick, Deanna Dickinson McCall, Andy Nelson, Susan Parker, Pat Richardson, Georgie Sicking, Bill Siems, Jay Snider, Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns, Hal Swift, Mick Vernon, and Smoke Wade, with a PSA by Francie Ganje. Learn more at CowboyPoetry.com.
CowboyPoetry.com is a project of the non-profit Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. Your contributions are tax-deductible. We're supported by people like you. Please join us!
March/April, 2008
This year's Cowboy Poetry Week—the seventh annual—is celebrated April 20-26. Inaugurated by CowboyPoetry.com—a project of the non-profit Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry—the celebration was recognized by unanimous resolution of the United States Senate. Nineteen states' governors and other officials have issued Cowboy Poetry Week proclamations, and the week is celebrated with activities across the West and beyond.
"Waxed Jacket," a painting by respected Western artist William Matthews (www.williammatthewsgallery.com) was selected as this year's Cowboy Poetry Week poster art. Posters are sent to libraries as a part of the Center's Rural Library Project and are available to Center supporters.
For 2008, there's a new edition of The BAR-D Roundup, the Center’s annual compilation recording of the best in classic and current cowboy poetry. The CD is also offered to libraries and available for purchase; proceeds help fund the Center's programs.
This third annual edition of The BAR-D Roundup includes Robert Service's vintage recording of his "The Cremation of Sam McGee" and contemporary poets reciting their work, including "Shadow on the Cutbank" by Joel Nelson, "The Memories in Grandmother’s Trunk" by Red Steagall, "Urban Daughter" by Wallace McRae, and Paul Zarzyski's "Luck of the Draw." Noted reciters Randy Rieman, Ross Knox, and Jerry Brooks present classic poems by Henry Herbert Knibbs, D. J. O'Malley, and Badger Clark, and the CD has a third, annual selection from Grass, a master work by the late Buck Ramsey, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, recognized as the modern spiritual leader of the genre.
There are many additional tracks of classic and contemporary poems (27 total), most from poets who frequently please audiences from contemporary gathering stages, including: Ken Cook, Doris Daley, DW Groethe, Yvonne Hollenbeck, Paul Kern, Linda Kirkpatrick (reciting a Bruce Kiskaddon poem), Deanna McCall, Andy Nelson, Susan Parker (reciting an A. V. Hudson poem), Pat Richardson, Georgie Sicking, Bill Siems (reciting a Curley Fletcher poem), Jay Snider (reciting a Luther A. Lawhon poem), Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns, Hal Swift (reciting a James Barton Adams poem), Mick Vernon (reciting an S. Omar Barker poem), and Smoke Wade.
Vintage and contemporary photos from featured poets' families are a part of each year’s CD. This year's striking cover features Perry Preston ("P.P.") Dickinson, circa 1912, Texas cowboy, rough-string rider, Marshall, Texas Ranger special agent, grandfather of fifth-generation rancher, poet, and writer Deanna McCall, and great grandfather of poets and reciters Rusty McCall and Katie McCall-Owens. Inside, there's a contemporary photo of South Dakota rancher Glen Hollenbeck, husband of poet Yvonne Hollenbeck, on their ranch near Clearfield, South Dakota.
Past editions of The BAR-D Roundup have enjoyed wide radio airplay, and the new edition will also be distributed to hundreds of Western radio stations, thanks to Joe Baker of New Mexico's Backforty Bunkhouse. The CD includes a radio public service announcement by Francie Ganje, radio host and director of South Dakota's Heritage of the American West show. Wyoming's Andy Nelson, poet, humorist, popular emcee and co-host of the award-winning Clear Out West (C. O. W.) Radio show is the CD's co-producer.
The BAR-D Roundup
(available in April, 2008) is offered for sale, with proceeds supporting CowboyPoetry.com ($20 postpaid from CowboyPoetry.com, PO Box 330444, San Francisco, CA 94133 and on line at CowboyPoetry.com).
The CD's focus—and that of the Center and CowboyPoetry.com—is to present stories from the real working West. Alberta poet Doris Daley exemplifies that aim in her popular poem, "Bones":
BonesThree cowboys sit on a split rail fence,
Long on bruises, short on sense.
Put 'em together and what do you get—
Besides three pairs of jeans and a pile of debt.
Add 'em all up and the sum of their parts
Is 27 fingers and three broken hearts.
30 pretty toes, only 2 of them broke,
Hide more scarred than the bark of an oak.
Five good eyes, one made of glass,
Three bum knees and a bad case of gas.
Three strong backs—but all of them achin,
And three mustached smiles filled with Copenhagen.
A bottle of pills for a bad tick-tocker
And a half-full prescription from Dr. Johnny Walker.
A surgeon's nightmare sits on that rail,
But they're married to the range and bonded to the trail.
They'll never be famous, they'll never be wealthy
But they love the life—cause it's so darn healthy!
© Doris Daley, All rights reserved
The poem is included on Doris Daley's recent CD, Good for What Ails You, available postpaid $18 (US), $20 (Canadian) from: Doris Daley, Fiddle DD Enterprises, Box 103, Turner Valley, AB TOL 2A0; (403) 933-4434; www.DorisDaley.com.
Take part in Cowboy Poetry Week: Get your schools, libraries, and community involved! Perform your poetry, donate a book, share your knowledge, get yourself a copy of The BAR-D Roundup. Read more about it all at CowboyPoetry.com.
There's more poetry and information about hundreds of classic and contemporary cowboy poets, Western musicians, and others at CowboyPoetry.com's BAR-D Ranch. It's an on-going gathering, with continuous news, features, event calendars, gathering reports, the best in classic and contemporary cowboy poetry and Western music lyrics, and a free email newsletter.
CowboyPoetry.com is a project of the non-profit Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. People like you make the site and other Center programs such as Cowboy Poetry Week and the Rural Library Project possible through their tax-deductible contributions. Please join us and be a part of it all. Celebrate the West!
January/February, 2008
A number of top gatherings are held in January and February, including the event that spawned all others: The Western Folklife Center's National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada (www.WesternFolklife.org).This year, the Elko gathering celebrates its twenty-fourth year, January 26 - February 2, 2008. It's an ever-expanding event with workshops, seminars, and a rich bounty of poets and musicians—most with solid roots in the ranching and cowboy culture—in more great shows and sessions than any one person could attend.Ranch-raised Texas poet Linda Kirkpatrick is making her first appearance at Elko this year. This poem comes from her childhood memories of being left behind, unwillingly, when her father and his ranch hands headed out for round up, and from her respect for those men and their way of life:When Round Up Time Comes Around
The wood floor creaks in the old bunkhouse
No other sound or voice is heard,
Soon the rattle of plates on the table
As every cowboy is served.
The jingle of spurs, bumping of boots
And the creak of the bunkhouse door,
These are the early sounds of the dawning
Just as in the days of yore.
The gray gelding snorts and paws the ground,
Then tosses his head in the air,
The bay in the corner trots round the pen,
They call her the Mustang Mare.
Then the rest in the pen start to stir,
A whinny, a prick of the ear,
The familiar sounds of the early morn
Tells them saddling time is near.
The feel of the Levi jacket worn,
As it turns back the morning chill.
A soft glow of pink in an eastern sky,
The sun wakes behind the hill.
The strike of a match for one last smoke,
The last coffee hitting the ground,
These wonderful sounds of the early morn,
When round up time comes around.
Then the buckling of his leather chaps,
The ones that his dad used to own,
He shakes out his legs, steps from the old porch,
This is the only life he has known.
He walks to the barn in the darkness.
His steps crunch the cold frost bit ground.
These wonderful sounds at the break of day,
When round up time comes around.
The cold leather creaks of his saddle,
The chime of the hackamore bit,
These are the sounds of a working cowboy,
These sounds of toil and grit.
He smiles riding out from the ranch house,
Embracing this life he has found,
He lives for this day and he always has,
The day round up time comes ‘round.
© 2004, Linda Kirkpatrick, All rights reserved
Linda Kirkpatrick's recent CD, Beneath a Western Sky, is available for $15.50 from Linda Kirkpatrick, P.O. Box 128, Leakey, Texas 78873 www.LindaKirkpatrick.net.Oklahoma rancher and poet Jay Snider, an Elko veteran, is headed to the 16th Annual Cochise Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering, February 1-3, 2008; (www.CowboyPoets.com). The popular gathering draws thousands of people to its weekend of top poetry and music performances by more than 50 poets and musicians, and also has a proud focus on its work with area student poets. Each year, over 2,000 students from grades 3 through 12 compete for awards and scholarships, with the winners appearing on the gathering stage. The organizers describe the event as “the ‘real thing,’ a gathering reminiscent of times around the campfire where wild tales are told or sung.”
Jay's poem below was inspired by a painting by award-winning Kansas artist Don Dane (www.DonDaneStudio.com), whose work is also known for his gathering posters for Pigeon Forge's Saddle Up!, Silver Dollar City's "A Salute to the Great American Cowboy," Cal Farley's Boys Ranch Youth Gathering, and other events.Burning Daylight
For Don DaneThough we saddle in the darkness
That’s just the way it’s done
We hear no bell or whistle call
Just the rising of the sun
The colors in the canyon
Paint pictures in my mind
Of the days that Charlie Russell rode
Of the tales he left behind
Vermillion cliffs of grandeur
Climb to plateaus up on high
Sunrise paints a mural
In an early mornin’ sky
Between sunrise and the sunset
Freedom courses through our veins
It’s the smell and the creak of the leather
The touch of our hands on the reins
Fleeting moments just at sunrise
And as sun sets in the west
Revered by men on horseback
From plain to mountain crest
Is the saddlin’ in the darkness
Just unwritten cowboy law
Or is it for the chance to see
What Charlie Russell saw© 2005, Jay Snider, All Rights Reserved
Jay Snider's recent CD, Of Horses and Men, is available for $19 postpaid from: Jay Snider, Route 1, Box 167, Cyril, Oklahoma 73029 www.JaySnider.net.
There's more poetry and information about hundreds of classic and contemporary cowboy poets, Western musicians, and others at CowboyPoetry.com's BAR-D Ranch. It's an on-going gathering, with continuous news, features, event calendars, gathering reports, the best in classic and contemporary cowboy poetry and Western music lyrics, and a free email newsletter.
The BAR-D Roundup: Volume II CD includes poems recited by Badger Clark, Randy Rieman, Joel Nelson, J. B. Allen, Sunny Hancock, Buck Ramsey, Jerry "Brooksie" Brooks, Virginia Bennett, Elizabeth Ebert, Paul Zarzyski, Doris Daley, Yvonne Hollenbeck, DW Groethe, Pat Richardson, Jay Snider, Darrell Arnold, Smoke Wade, Jo Lynne Kirkwood, Peggy Godfrey, Ken Cook, Don Kennington, Kent Rollins, Janice Gilbertson, Rod Nichols, Diane Tribitt, and Jim Thompson, with a PSA by Andy Nelson, the CD's co-producer. Learn more here at CowboyPoetry.com.
CowboyPoetry.com is a project of the non-profit Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. People like you make the site and other Center programs such as Cowboy Poetry Week and the Rural Library Project possible through their tax-deductible contributions. Please join us and be a part of it all. Celebrate the West!
November/December, 2007
The Monterey Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival and Western Art and Gear Show—known for attracting the best of the best poets, musicians, artists, and gear makers—celebrates its ninth year, December 7-9 in Monterey, California. This year's event upholds the standard, from the gathering poster, graced with the late Joelle Smith's painting, "Randy and Jeremiah" (depicting cowboy, horseman, poet, and master reciter Randy Rieman and respected saddlemaker Jeremiah Watt) to the stellar lineup that includes Ian Tyson, Tom Russell, Wylie & the Wild West, R.W. Hampton, Ernie Sites, Paul Zarzyski, Joel Nelson, Randy Rieman, Yvonne Hollenbeck, Joni Harms, Pat Richardson, Gary Robertson, Mike Beck, Sandy Seaton, and Mick Vernon (the gathering's artist director).
Montana outfitter Sandy Seaton is making her first appearance at the Monterey festival before heading to Elko, Nevada where she’s a veteran of the Western Folklife Center's National Cowboy Poetry Gathering (January 26 - February 2, 2008). This poem is from her book, The Yellowstone Poet:
"Why must you ride that horse?!"
My good friend cocks her head
"You know the last time he spooked with you
We all thought you were dead."
"Why team rope?" asks my brother.
"You'll just get in a wreck.
Thirteen years ago July
That's how you broke your neck."
"You're going to ride that racehorse?"
My mother cries in fear.
"That green horse that you tried last spring
Sure set you on your ear!"
"You split your hip last year, you know!
My sister heaves a sigh.
You've broke so many bones right now
Your body's held awry."
"A packtrip in the wilderness?"
My grandma can't believe.
"That grizzly bear that showed last year
Just flat refused to leave."
"That crazy mule will get you hurt!"
My neighbor's mad at me."That spotted fool is spoiled bad,
But you can't leave him be."
A good horse can be just as cheap
As canner bargain buys
With added doctor's fees and casts
It seems you would get wise."
They say I'm macho. Aw, come on
That's just idle talk.
The truth of why I'll ride that horse
Is this:I HATE TO WALK!
© 1998, Sandy Seaton, All rights reserved
Sandy Seaton's new Montana Legacy CD includes 13 original poems, some accompanied by her vocals. It's available for $17 postpaid from her at: P.O. Box 117, Emigrant, MT 59027, (406) 222-7455; www.blackmountainoutfitters.com.
South Dakota's Slim McNaught shares Sandy’s devotion to horses, and his poem is a perfect fit for the season:
Cold Weather Feedin'
the snow crunches
the herd bunches
And the mares nicker in the cold,
their rumps facin'
to the wind, bracin'
As winter's forces take hold.
from the hay stack
I take a look back,
The horses are standin', heads low,
wind is whippin',
manes a' flippin'
As they bunch to ward off the blow.
as I pitch out hay
at the start of day
I marvel at these creatures I love,
as they wait for feed
for their body's need
I feel blessed by the Lord up above.
in this cold weather
they bunch together
By an instinct that's centuries old,
and the snow crunches
as the herd bunches
And the mares nicker in the cold.© 2006, Slim McNaught, All rights reserved
Slim comments, "You know, it don't make any difference what time of year it is or what kind of weather you're in, if you just watch a bunch of horses for a few minutes doin' what horses do, you will feel blest."
Slim was raised on a ranch in the Badlands country on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and later ran his own Buzzard Basin Ranch. For many years, his leather business has thrived. Slim is a frequent performer at gatherings across the Upper Great Plains. He has a recent book, Reflections of a Cowboy Poet ($7.50 postpaid) and a recent CD, A Life of Rhyme ($15 postpaid) available from him at: P.O. Box 274, New Underwood, SD 57761, (605) 754-6103; www.slimscustomleather.com.
There's more poetry and information about hundreds of classic and contemporary cowboy poets, Western musicians, and others at CowboyPoetry.com's BAR-D Ranch. It's an on-going gathering, with continuous news, features, event calendars, gathering reports, the best in classic and contemporary cowboy poetry and Western music lyrics, and a free email newsletter.
The 2007 edition of The BAR-D Roundup: Volume II CD includes poems recited by Badger Clark, Randy Rieman, Joel Nelson, J. B. Allen, Sunny Hancock, Buck Ramsey, Jerry "Brooksie" Brooks, Virginia Bennett, Elizabeth Ebert, Paul Zarzyski, Doris Daley, Yvonne Hollenbeck, DW Groethe, Pat Richardson, Jay Snider, Darrell Arnold, Smoke Wade, Jo Lynne Kirkwood, Peggy Godfrey, Ken Cook, Don Kennington, Kent Rollins, Janice Gilbertson, Rod Nichols, Diane Tribitt, and Jim Thompson, with a PSA by Andy Nelson, the CD's co-producer. Learn more here at CowboyPoetry.com.
CowboyPoetry.com is a project of the non-profit Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. People like you make the site and other Center programs such as Cowboy Poetry Week and the Rural Library Project possible through their tax-deductible contributions. Please join us and be a part of it all. Celebrate the West!
September/October, 2007
The Tenth Annual National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo (www.CowboyPoetryRodeo.com) takes place in Hot Springs, South Dakota, September 28-29, 2007, in conjunction with the Badger Clark Hometown Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering. Poet Sam Jackson conceived the unique National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo based on his belief in "excellence through competition."Minnesota rancher and poet Diane Tribitt is making a return visit to the Rodeo. She's also headed for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, in January, 2008, as a first-time invited performer. Diane's poem below was written for a special National Day of the Cowboy "Art Spur" competition at CowboyPoetry.com. The subject of her poem is a painting by noted Kansas artist Don Dane (www.DonDaneStudio.com). Don Dane's work is featured in the official posters for the Cal Farley's Boys Ranch Youth Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Saddle Up!, and Silver Dollar City's "A Salute to the Great American Cowboy."Great Day to be a Cowboy
Holding his end of Texas-cross cows
the cowboy leaned back with a sigh
His young sun-dyed face
held just a small trace
of fun in his dark, daring eye
Riding through canyons thick with mesquite
in scrub oak thickets—and cedars
his best sorrel horse
kept the herd on course
with no breakers or stampeders
He pondered on modern-day ranchin'
—with choppers and laptops and such—
but there ain't much change
out here on the range
where gadgets don't mean all that much
He had ridden in Texas Northers;
Seen horns lit by St. Elmo's fire;
And raced eerie gales
that chased his coat-tails
but cowboyin' was his desire
He had ridden where there was no shade
'cept the shadow under his hat
and oft' he would swear
that Hade's hot air
was corralled and penned under that
And he rode in some worst stampedes ever
to happen while out on a drive
He hazed at the ear
Rode flank at the rear
The wonder is that he's alive
But ever so often it happens
the weather for gatherin' beeves
is sunny and bright,
ain't a cow on the fight
and a cowboy can roll back his sleeves
© 2007, Diane Tribitt , All rights reserved
Diane has a new book and a new CD, both titled Trail Mix, and available from her at: 38034 193rd Street, Hillman, MN, 56338; www.dianetribitt.com.
Popular poet, emcee, and radio co-host Andy Nelson will also be a part of the National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo, and before heading there, he's featured at the September 26, 2007 Heritage of the American West show, produced by radio broadcasters Francie Ganje and Jim Thompson of Creative Broadcast Services in Spearfish, South Dakota.
Andy's best known for his raucous humor, but this poem reflects another side of Andy, inspired by his brother, Jim. Andy and Jim Nelson host the top-rated Clear Out West (C. O. W.) radio show, and were named Top Radio Disk Jockeys in 2006 by the Western Music Association (WMA). The WMA also chose Andy Nelson as Male Poet of the Year in 2006. Like Diane Tribitt, Andy Nelson is headed to the 2008 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering as a first-time invited performer.
The Old Crockett Spurs
As long as I can remember,
The Crockett spurs belonged to Jim;
They’re modest, yet very complex,
And remind me a lot of him.Tempered through hard work and labor,
Engraved with years of bad weather;
Forged from the iron of turmoil,
Thick in the skin and the leather.Perfectly balanced in function,
Dependable when called on to work;
Precise when applied to the trade,
Dangerous when used by a jerk.Both may appear harsh at first sight,
But are subtle when put into use;
The hard edges have worn down some,
Polished by the years of abuse.Not very flashy to look at,
Don’t make a whole lot of noise;
Often overlooked by most folks,
Except for real working cowboys.As progress replaces tradition,
An emotion within me stirs;
My heritage is a priceless gift,
Like Jim...and those old Crockett spurs.© 2007, Andy Nelson, All rights reserved
Andy Nelson has a new CD, Full Nelson Shoeing, available from him at: PO Box 1547, Pinedale, WY 82941, www.cowpokepoet.com.
Both Diane Tribitt and Andy Nelson are featured on the 2008 edition of The BAR-D Roundup, a compilation CD of classic and contemporary cowboy poetry from CowboyPoetry.com.
There's more poetry and information about hundreds of classic and contemporary cowboy poets, Western musicians, and others at CowboyPoetry.com's BAR-D Ranch. It's an on-going gathering, with continuous news, features, event calendars, gathering reports, the best in classic and contemporary cowboy poetry and Western music lyrics, and a free email newsletter.
The 2007 edition of The BAR-D Roundup: Volume II CD includes poems recited by Badger Clark, Randy Rieman, Joel Nelson, J. B. Allen, Sunny Hancock, Buck Ramsey, Jerry "Brooksie" Brooks, Virginia Bennett, Elizabeth Ebert, Paul Zarzyski, Doris Daley, Yvonne Hollenbeck, DW Groethe, Pat Richardson, Jay Snider, Darrell Arnold, Smoke Wade, Jo Lynne Kirkwood, Peggy Godfrey, Ken Cook, Don Kennington, Kent Rollins, Janice Gilbertson, Rod Nichols, Diane Tribitt, and Jim Thompson, with a PSA by Andy Nelson, the CD's co-producer. Learn more here at CowboyPoetry.com.
CowboyPoetry.com is a project of the non-profit Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. People like you make the site and other Center programs such as Cowboy Poetry Week and the Rural Library Project possible through their tax-deductible contributions. Please join us and be a part of it all. Celebrate the West!
July/August, 2007
Two respected gatherings mark twentieth anniversaries this summer: The California Rodeo Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Salinas (July 19) and the Arizona Cowboy Poets Gathering in Prescott (August 16-18).
In 1988, poet Audrey Hankins attended her first gathering, which was also the Arizona Cowboy Poets' first gathering. Ten years later, she received the gathering's prestigious Gail I. Gardner Award. This year, she's a featured performer on the twentieth anniversary stage. Audrey Hankins has also received the Will Rogers Top Female Poet Award from the Academy of Western Artists.Her poem, “First Light,” is the title poem on her new CD:
FIRST LIGHT
First light to sunup—
Best time of day.
Dogs run to greet me,
Coffee's on the way.
Nickers for morrals,
Waiting horse herd.
Tentative twitters,
Treeful of birds.
Mountains inky blue
Against a lighting sky.
Morning star, pale moon,
Clean slate, natural high.
The jump on the world,
A minute to pray.
First light to sunup—
Best time of day.© 2004, Audrey Hankins, All rights reserved
The First Light CD is available for
$17 postpaid, from Audrey Hankins, P.O. Box 688, Congress, AZ 85332.Audrey Hankins' work is included in a number of anthologies, including a new collection, Thanks for the Poems; a Commemorative Collection for the 20th Arizona Cowboy Poets Gathering. Edited by Sally Harper Bates, Nika Nordbrock, and Mary Abbott, the book contains nearly 100 poems chosen from the impressive list of poets who have been featured at the gathering. It is available for $20 postpaid from the Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 West Gurley Street, Prescott, Arizona 86301928-445-3122, www.sharlot.org.
The California Rodeo Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Salinas is held in conjunction with the venerable Salinas California Rodeo-always pronounced "ro-day-o" in that vaquero country. For its twentieth anniversary, in recognition of another valued local distinction, the program is called "Cowboys and Cabernet." Performers include Red Steagall; Belinda Gail and Curly Musgrave; Pat Richardson; and Susan Parker, a standout from the 2006 open mike performers. It's a gathering tradition to choose a poet or musician from the event's popular open performances (delivered from the main stage to the full event audience) to be featured the following year. Last year's chosen performer, J Parsons, was invited to the 2007 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada.
Susan Parker is no stranger to the stage; she performs at many California venues and looks forward to taking part in the National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo in Hot Springs, South Dakota (September 28-29). Her new CD, She Rode a Wild Horse, includes her poem, "Late Born Foal":
LATE BORN FOALWeather beaten earth turned to mud
awaits the birth of a late born foal
as a mare sweats and struggles
to give life to a newborn soul.
No dry barn shelters her misery,
no sweet-smelling bed of clean straw,
only rain on a lava rock pillow
in a harsh mountain draw.
Finally from her womb emerges
four spindly legs, a lifeless head.
She nickers to her babe
with no response. The babe is dead.
Exhausted from her struggle
swollen body racked with pain,
she knows within her heart
she'll not join the herd again.
Winter winds whisper
echo the coyote's cry;
dreams of heavenly meadows
drift in the breath of her final sigh.
The scent of death is in the air
as one bird of prey circles, then another.
Weather beaten earth turned to mud—
a bed of death for the foal and mother.© 2005, Susan Parker, All rights reserved
Susan Parker has a serious interest in early Western women's poetry, and has a project in the works to showcase such works. Her new CD, She Rode a Wild Horse, is available for $18 postpaid from Susan Parker, PO Box 865, Benicia, CA 94510
(707) 745-3768, www.susanparkerpoet.com.
There's more poetry and information about hundreds of classic and contemporary cowboy poets, Western musicians, and others at CowboyPoetry.com's BAR-D Ranch. It's an on-going gathering, with continuous news, features, event calendars, gathering reports, the best in classic and contemporary cowboy poetry and Western music lyrics, and a free email newsletter.
The 2007 edition of The BAR-D Roundup: Volume II CD includes poems recited by Badger Clark, Randy Rieman, Joel Nelson, J. B. Allen, Sunny Hancock, Buck Ramsey, Jerry "Brooksie" Brooks, Virginia Bennett, Elizabeth Ebert, Paul Zarzyski, Doris Daley, Yvonne Hollenbeck, DW Groethe, Pat Richardson, Jay Snider, Darrell Arnold, Smoke Wade, Jo Lynne Kirkwood, Peggy Godfrey, Ken Cook, Don Kennington, Kent Rollins, Janice Gilbertson, Rod Nichols, Diane Tribitt, and Jim Thompson, with a PSA by Andy Nelson, the CD's co-producer. Learn more here at CowboyPoetry.com.
CowboyPoetry.com is a project of the non-profit Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. People like you make the site and other Center programs such as Cowboy Poetry Week and the Rural Library Project possible through their tax-deductible contributions. Please join us and be a part of it all. Celebrate the West!
May/June 2007
Poems by Bruce Kiskaddon (1878-1950) are favorites among cowboys and cowboy poetry fans. You’ll hear them delivered frequently from gathering stages by today's top reciters, such as Randy Rieman, Joel Nelson, Jerry "Brooksie" Brooks, Ross Knox, Linda Kirkpatrick, Jim Ross, and others.
Kiskaddon worked as a cowboy from the time he was 19 until a serious accident put an end to his riding about ten years later. Among his most well known and often-recited poems are "When They've Finished Shipping Cattle in the Fall," "The Broncho Twister's Prayer," "The Old Night Hawk, " "The Time to Decide," "An Old Western Town," and "Alone."
Kiskaddon wrote nearly 500 poems, and an impressive new limited-edition book compiled and edited by Bill Siems, Open Range; Collected Poems of Bruce Kiskaddon—perhaps the most important cowboy poetry book published in recent times—includes Kiskaddon's entire poetic output.
This poem is a good example of Kiskaddon's style:
THE WRANGLEROh yes he's the wrangler, a big lanky kid,
That started to work 'bout the same time you did.
He ain't got chaps and boots like the rest of you hands.
He wears tattered old pants and a pair of brogans.He rides an old saddle that's got a long tree,
With some gunny sack blankets in onder, maybe.
He has only one spur that he ties to his shoe,
And a limber old rope that he has to make do.
He sometimes gets lonesome while watchin' his herd,
But he keeps a tight mouth and he don't say a word.
He takes out the remuda, and brings 'em back in
When it's time fer the boys to change hosses ag'in.
Now you and me, pardner, has done had our day,
We cain't make a real hand, but I'm willin' to say,
If they give us a chance we would really enjoy,
Jest to wrangle a bunch, like we did when a boy.
by Bruce Kiskaddon, from the Western Livestock Journal, 1937
(Randy Rieman recites Kiskaddon’s "When They've Finished Shipping Cattle in the Fall" on the new compilation CD from CowboyPoetry.com, The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Two.)
Open Range includes 481 poems, extensive illustrations, biographical and historical introductions, rare photographs, and more. Learn more and find order information at http://www.oldnighthawkpress.com or write to Old Nighthawk Press, 2521 S. Hatch St., Spokane, WA 99203.
Texas poet Rod Nichols has something to say about cowboys and their talents, too.
TALENTLord knows why the boss ever hired him,
he wuzn't what you'd call a hand,
he stayed in our way or in trouble,
not much of a cowboy that man.
I think that the boss would've fired him,
just waited to find the right way,
til after our supper one evenin'
he took a mouth-organ and played.
It might have been "Red River Valley"
or "Down In The Valley So Low"
or "Kathleen" or "Come To The Bower,"
to this day I don't rightly know.
But that doesn't really much matter
cause whatever tune that he played,
when that rascal pup started playin'
we all wuz right glad that he'd stayed.
Have you felt the warm wind on the prairie,
the soft mourning call of a dove,
then you may have some sort of feelin'
for what we wuz all thinkin' of.
The cares of the day soon forgotten,
they vanished without any trace,
there wuzn't an hombre among us
without a big smile on his face.
The Lord gives to each man a talent
to use or to hide as he may,
there wuzn't no doubt 'bout his talent
whenever that feller had played.
Lord grant me just one little favor,
please help me a bit now and then,
to call on just half of such talent
to shine as a light before men.
© 2002, Rod Nichols, All rights reserved
Rod Nichols recites this poem on The BAR-D Roundup: Volume II, and it is included with 75 other poems in his second, recent book, Drover Diaries, which is available for $16.95 postpaid from Rod Nichols, P.O. Box 215, 6140 Hwy 6, Missouri City, TX 77459 and from his web site, www.cowboyrod.com.
There's more poetry and information about hundreds of classic and contemporary cowboy poets, Western musicians, and others at CowboyPoetry.com's BAR-D Ranch. It's an on-going gathering, with continuous news, features, event calendars, gathering reports, the best in classic and contemporary cowboy poetry and Western music lyrics, and a free email newsletter.
The 2007 edition of The BAR-D Roundup: Volume II CD includes poems recited by Badger Clark, Randy Rieman, Joel Nelson, J. B. Allen, Sunny Hancock, Buck Ramsey, Jerry "Brooksie" Brooks, Virginia Bennett, Elizabeth Ebert, Paul Zarzyski, Doris Daley, Yvonne Hollenbeck, DW Groethe, Pat Richardson, Jay Snider, Darrell Arnold, Smoke Wade, Jo Lynne Kirkwood, Peggy Godfrey, Ken Cook, Don Kennington, Kent Rollins, Janice Gilbertson, Rod Nichols, Diane Tribitt, and Jim Thompson, with a PSA by Andy Nelson, the CD's co-producer. Learn more here at CowboyPoetry.com.
CowboyPoetry.com is a project of the non-profit Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. People like you make the site and other Center programs such as Cowboy Poetry Week and the Rural Library Project possible through their tax-deductible contributions. Please join us and be a part of it all. Celebrate the West!
&nbs
