Cowboy Poetry

Wisconsin Bookwatch, March, 2005

Cowboy Poetry

Ray Meyers

Tate Publishing, LLC

127 East Trade Center Terrace, Mustang, OK 73064

www.tatepublishing.com

1933148209 $13.95 1-888-361-9475

Cowboy Poetry: Of Legends In Frozen Time is a showcase compilation of the poetry of Ray Meyers, a man who was born, raised, and lives on the sam ranch in Carroll County, Iowa, that his grandfather has settled in 1867. An avid fan of cowboy poetry, Ray Meyers raises shorthorn cattle, and quarter horses making him as authentic a cowboy poet has could ever be asked for. With lyrical verse (some of which are of epic quality) revealing a cowboy's yearning for wide-open spaces, starlit nights, and independence, Cowboy Poetry is populated with memorable charecters and a prairie life of memorable beauty and illuminating imagery. There are even a few black/white photos and some cowboy recipes! Cowboy Poets: How are cowboy poets made?/They don't suddenly just appear,/Now I can't speak for all the rest;/But this is what happened here.//My teachers name was Isaia,/This old sister really had wit,/Her off-time hobby was yodeling;/She taught me poetry in Sophomore Lit.//Soon I'd chosen a favorite poet,/Now he wrote in the sixteenth century,/His words were an intrigue with thoughtful depth;/As he told us of early gentry.//The robes he wore would seem strange to us,/He was no cowboy so don't fear;/He wrote poems of kingdoms and romance;/His "Nom-de-plum" was William Shakespeare.//Years progressed and I gained experience,/From the laughter and tragedy of life;/"You should write a book with all your stories."/Was the suggestion of my wife.//I consistently read in the Cattle Country News,/The stories by Mad Jack Hanks,/He wrote stories and poems, He did cartoons too./Mad Jack I extend you my thanks.//I was inspired while reading Cowboy Poetry,/That was authored by T. L. Bush./So I put my stories to rhythm and rhyme:/My leap of faith was really a push.//But the poet whom I most respected,/Whose words flowed and never went slack;/And he wrote many stories of cowboy ways:/ He's the poet called Baxter Black.//That pretty well tells the story of how,/A cowboy poet grew midst Iowa corn;/He went from reading to writing in rhythm and rhym:/And that's how this poet was born. Keep your rope coiled, Cowboy Poet, Ray Meyers.