FALL RENEWAL - COWBOY POETRY
Autumn exists to remind us that things must end to begin again.
Autumn is a season of reflection, reconciliation and renewal. As summer dissipates into distant memory, leaves fall from trees, finding themselves scattered in foreign places. During this season of immense change, nothing feels quite as comforting as curling up with a new read or listening to quality music. To honor the changing seaons we’ve collected some cowboy poetry that reflect autumn’s renewal.
Cowboy poetry is a 150-year-old tradition
Cowboys have written poetry for as long as there has been a need to herd cattle in the American West—which, folklorist Hal Cannon says, dates to the overland cattle drives of the 1870s. IT’S A LONG TRADITION OF THE WEST THAT STILL HOLDS TRUE. I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED WRITING POETRY MY ENTIRE LIFE, MOSTLY ABOUT MY EXPERIENCES in NATURE AND ON HORSEBACK. BUT IT WASN’T UNTIL MY GREAT UNCLE JIM’S FUNERAL THAT I LEARNED WHAT COWBOY POETRY WAS.
UNCLE JIM WORKED AS A RANCH HAND AND COWBOY ALL HIS LIFE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO. HE WAS also A BULL RIDER, A BRONC RIDER, AND ON TOP OF THAT A MUSICIAN. HE WROTE COWBOY POETRY IN THE FORM OF SONGS. BUT At HIS FUNERAL MANY COWBOYS WHO KNEW MY GREAT uncle JIM RECITED COWBOY POETRY ALL THROUGHOUT HIS SERVICE to honor his legacy. AND I WANT TO CONTINUE TO SHARE THIS TRADITION OF THE WEST THROUGH 1991.
SO HERE ARE SOME autumnal COWBOY POEMS TO ENJOY…
— Steve Lucas —
There’s a cricket in the corner and he’s singin’ his same old song
A repetitive reminder that summer’s really gone.
The leaves have started turnin,’ my pony’s coat is gettin’ thick
The days are getting’ shorter, sayin’ frost will be here quick.
There’s a cricket in the corner and his racket will not quit.
I’d blame him for my sleepless night, but I really must admit,
That cowboys lie awake at night and worry about the snow.
Will there be enough feed for nights when it’s thirty-five below?
There’s a cricket in the corner, I’ll just let his serenade
Lull me to sleep to dream about summer siestas in the shade.
There’s just no use frettin’ about what winter will send my way.
We’ll deal with it and get through it ‘cause that’s the cowboy way.
— Waddie Mitchell —
When sim'ring summer solstice fades
and Fall steps into view
and the quaken asp’ bloom color
and grass its ashen hue
And the cows and horses coat up
And ants crawl into hole
and the mule deer migrate southward
Before nights can take their toll
And the snakes tangle together
Birds head south with the Sun
And the snow hare transforms to white
Dogs think that it's all fun
And somehow the air is filtered
'til it tastes sparkling new
And beaver work their extra shifts
to see the winter through
It is Autumn wrapping things up
as the cycle's running low
It is counting fiscal stories
It is time for letting go
It charges one to look ahead
Quells urge to tally out
It slows the pace, also your roll
and proves up on your tout
I've loved Fall's yearly visits long
Just not what's next to come
Still Autumn's here, it's crisp and clear
Indulge her season's fun
— Dick Gibford —
Though yer not exactly blue
Yet you don't feel like you do
In the winter, or the long hot summer days.
For your feelins and the weather
Seem to sort of go together,
And yer quiet in the dreamy autumn haze.
