A Time To Ponder
Sunday, April 19 th , was the first day of Cowboy Poetry Week.
This celebration takes place each year during April, and is made possible through the efforts of the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry and Music. It is funded by generous support by grants from foundations and donations from individuals.
April is National Poetry Month in the United States. Cowboypoetry.com started Cowboy Poetry Week back in April 2002. In 2003 the U.S. Senate passed a resolution that would recognize our Cowboy Poetry Week celebration.
Thank you’s go to our friend Margo Metegrano, publisher of cowboypoetry.com. Many state governors receive requests to issue proclamations and many comply. Our Texas governors have issued a proclamation each year because a request is made by our friend and fellow cowboy poet, Linda Kirkpatrick, and you just don’t say “no” to Linda. I posted a poem on Facebook each day during this week as my effort to recognize cowboy poetry and keep alive our western heritage. Many other cowboy poets and musicians did the same.
The coronavirus quarantine kept us from having public gatherings to celebrate the week, but thanks to public media, we could each do our part. Go to Ol’ Jim Cathey on facebook, youtube, cowboypoetry.com, or marlindemocrat.com to find other offerings of my cowboy poetry. My poem today was published by cowboypoetry.com as apart of their program they call “Art Spur.” These poems are written as interpretations of an artist’s painting.
This year, Texas western artist Blake Teal’s painting “Ranch Water” inspired my poem “A Time To Ponder.”
A Time To Ponder
The harshness of winter here on the high plains,
Had slowly begun to change,
From frosty winds to the gentle warming rains,
That brought new graze to this range.
He sat quite with his thoughts, as the ponies drank,
An’ pondered what lay ahead,
Knowin’ that he had the Good Lord to thank,
For these blessin’s so widespread.
His vision was blurred by the mist an’ the fog,
With a slight chill in the air,
His thoughts came to words in a quiet dialogue,
An’ he sent aloft a prayer.
Just the clean scent of an early spring morn,
That comes at the break o day,
Brought memories strugglin’ to be reborn,
These visions from far away.
The quiet of the morn stirred mem’rys somehow,
Swarmin’ like moths to a flame,
As a gentle breeze brushed his furrowed brow,
He sighed as memories came.
And as memories surfaced, he sat entranced,
Watchin’ the pictures come through,
Visions of yesteryear, bold an’ enhanced,
Mixin’ the old with the new.
He thought of home an’ his sweet Mama’s smile,
As mem’rys marched through his brain,
He’d left home, just a kid, livin’ life in style,
Learnin’ quick not to complain.
He grew up fast an’ learned the cowboy way,
Bringin’ good along with the bad,
Bolstered by his Mama’s prayers each day,
The thought of her made him glad.
An’ as each thought rushed to burst upon the scene,
He sifted through them with care,
An one by one, they circled there unseen,
‘Cuz some he could never share.
He shivered from the early mornin’ chill,
As he pushed his thoughts around,
Knownin’ that some mem’rys gave him a thrill,
An’ to most he was not bound.
But the mem’rys were there to remind of the past,
To reflect on yesteryear,
An’ serve as a guide where his lot was cast,
allow no quit an’ no fear.
He knew that he was blessed in a cowboy way,
T’was the only life he knew,
It was early to late, hard work, an’ low pay,
An’ your pards all counted on you.
Yeah, they counted on you to do your part,
An’ they expected your best,
An’ that’s what you gave, your soul an’ your heart,
It takes that here in the west.
So he sorted ‘em out, an’ he brought some in,
As a smile came to his face,
An’ he realized these mem’rys had all been,
Blessed an’ granted by God’s grace!
© Ol’ Jim Cathey April 2020
God bless our Western Heritage, and God Bless America!