FOLK COLLECTION 11: The Skaggs Foundation Cowboy Poetry Collection

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

130

F. H. Maynard

Farewell to the Plains

Farewell, farewell, to the western plain! I tightened my cinches and gathered my rein, Then eagerly mounted my good mustang, While full of joy was the song that I sang;

plains, mustang, fate, prairie

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

130

Jack Wessels

Horseshoer's Daughter

She's nearly full grown now Got most of her size, She'll be out on her own soon Or be a lucky man's prize

daughter, horseshoe, skill

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

131

Jerry Wright

The Four-Horse Hitch

As the Monsignor stampedes through the wedding mass in "nine-o," record time - we three cowpuncher heathens, Copenhagen taut lips in our pews, give silent thanks to the priest's pity.

wedding, team, horses

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

132

Diana Russell

Why Horses Are Better Than Men

I guess you could say I'm a veteran Of the various affairs of the heart In these days when most relationships end Almost before they start.

love, horses, communication

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

132

Elva Schouten

Cowboy's Wife

When cowboys go lookin' for themselves a wife, They use an example they've taken from life,

wife, honest, mother

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

134

Mel Raley

Cowboy Talk

A bunch of cowboys were sittin' around Takin' 'bout horses, dogs, and wives. And how in one way or another, They had affected a part of their lives.

girlfriend, wife, love

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

134

Dennis Anderson

The Hang Up

I am a rodeo cowboy and I ride bulls at rodeos, and I thought we had it made but now you tell me you're gonna go.

memory, loss, broken heart

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

135

Steven Hind

The Gal in the Batwing Chaps

I'd lost a few, won even fewer, Down and out with a foot in the sewer, So I thought I'd return to my home true roots In my snap-button shirt and my snakeskin boots.

heartsick, love, attraction

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

136

Jerry Wright

Winter's Redemption

Windswept swales Of virgin white So picturesque, pristine, Breed contempt and curse As I catch up The Buckskin.

winter, joy, cold, family

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

136

Zenith Lindamood

Flames of Spring

I feel once more the magic of that spring, the glow and wonder of each passing day when we were young and love was everything, and in a mist we dreamed the hours away.

spring, memory, warmth

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

138

H. Howard Hamm

Whisperin' Wind

Tonight... I'm feelin' restless... Th' moon is shining, hard and bright Th' wind is a feelin' jest like me - It's blowin' now with all its might.

wind, restless, night

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

139

Glenn Brunkow

More Than a Job

"I love this," you constantly have to remind yourself As the wind pounds the frozen sleet into your face, But if you don't check the heifer no one else will do it, So you turn up your collar and pick up your pace.

cow, work, enjoy

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

140

Josh Hoy

Hill Pasture, Gathering Strays

He snorts and cuffs the ground Impatient and eager. I frustrate him In my contemplation.

mood, emotion, cattle

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

141

Jeff Davidson

Neighbors

We've been neighbors for close to 50 ears. We've shared our work and our dreams, And you know, it takes almost that long To learn what a "good neighbor" means.

neighbors, friendship, unity

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

142

Anne Brown Wilson

Checking the Pasture

She was taking a ride today To check the pasture. No pressing problems, Just an inventory of animals and grass, Keeping in touch Whit the invisible process of growth

graze, buffalo, pasture

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

144

Jack Wessels

I Get Discouraged

Life on the edge of a cowboy's dream is like livin' in two worlds - a conflict supreme.

distraction, neighbors

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

145

Jerry Wright

I Never Went Out With the Waogon

I spent my childhood dreamin' of cowboys, Ridin' the hills, sleepin' on the ground.

dream, singing, change

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

146

Mel Raley

I'll Be in it to the End

An old cowboy the other day Was just sttin' down by the barn. As I rode by he said to me "Stop, lets spin a yarn."

lifestyle, cooking

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

148

F. H. Maynard

Passing of the Old Frontier

Where are the stockmen bluff and bold, Who pitched their tents in the far frontier, Where wealth was not in bond or gold, But in the long-horned Texas steer?

history, memory, reflect

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

149

Jack Hurlburt

The Ridge

So long, old timer, 'til we meet again: You stepped up and rode away.

remember, ridge, trail

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

149

Herman W. Booth

Comments of 103-Year-Old Cowpoke Emmett LeFors

"Now I've rode those trails Of the long lost past.

life, old, friends

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

150

Jack Hurlburt

The Lamp in the Window

When shadows dim and darkness rules the land, my work now nearly done, I am homewook blue.

stream. night. stars

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

151

Ray Davidson

Quittin' Time

I can see the wind a'blowin' Through the grass that's come and gone Since we started raising cattle Just a few miles north of town, And I know the time for quitting won't be long.

job, night, pasture, brand

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

152

Jim Hoy

In the Days of Granville and John

Oh the days of Granville and John have passed Never to come again, And we won't see the likes of times like theirs In the current affairs of men.

bachelor, brothers, work

Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas

Jim Hoy

FOLK COLL 11 H-62

153

Ray Davidson

The Old Days

I remember in the old days, A day that's long since How these blues they seemed to ride me All throuh

change, canyon, road