POETRY FRIDAY

Today's roundup is being held by Brian Jung at Critique de Mr. Chompchomp. Go check it out!

And here's my contribution, in honor of the South Dakota trip -- a poem from an anthology entitled COWBOY POETRY MATTERS, edited by Robert McDowell, which we picked up at a great little used bookstore on the main drag in Custer.

Cowboy poetry is not just all about riding the range. There's some really wonderful poems included here. Like this one:

Ashes, After Fire

by Andy Wilkinson

I've seen the bluestem, stirrup-deep,
Become a blackened pyre,
A wasteland, buried in the heap
Of ashes, after fire.

The old, dead grass goes up in smoke,
The wind howls in the wire,
What was, is gone, deep in the cloak
Of ashes, after fire.

Yet quick, so quick, the ranges wear
Their spanking new attire,
As tender grass grows in the care
Of ashes, after fire.

Though alchemists have lost their call
Their magics still inspire
Gold seekers in the grimy pall
Of ashes, after fire.

Beautiful, isn't it? Can't you just see that prairie covered in new growth? Love it.