April 2022
National Poetry Month, every April, is a literary celebration of heightened language. Cowboy Poetry Week, during the third week of April, is a living celebration of heightened senses by poets who recite cherished classics and cowboys who embrace new originals. Undoubtedly, cowboy poetry has made many contributions to the language of human experience. But, how does one gain experience to make their own contribution to cowboy poetry?
This month, Annie asks for guidance in setting about this undertaking that is cowboy poetry:
“What is the one tip you would give to someone just starting to write cowboy poetry?”
— Anonymous Annie, the amateur author
The pros burst with generous tips for aspiring writers on the cowboy part of the poetry spectrum. Their advice holds up even if you’re a bit less cowboy. If you’re poised for poetry, read on for tips on tapping into that “something else” that animates words (and life).
If you’d like to ask the cowboy poets’ guidance on art, life, or anything, submit a question. Submissions can be made on our Facebook, Instagram, or by email to media@westernfolklife.org.
Dick Gibford:
Dear Annie,
Gosh, that’s a tough one for me, that is as far as just holding it to one aspect. There are a multitude of tips and ways to approach beginning to write, whether it be a novel, short story, or a cowboy poem. If I had to narrow it down, I would say the beginning of the poem is the most important. If you are out in the wilds of nature a-horseback or doing other chores, and if you are by yourself, it is much easier to get into that state of consciousness where there is more awareness and all the senses become heightened. Out there in the silence and solitude, a person should have much better luck in getting started writing poetry. Drawing on our own experience working with horses and cattle and fellow cowboys goes without saying, but there is a "something else" that is needed to do good writing. It has to do with the spirit in us and in all things that makes us feel connected to the larger picture. Yes, the beginning of the poem I feel needs to be as perfectly constructed as possible, because it sets the stage and draws the audience in. After that, if the "muse" is with us, we only have to let the words flow as ideas march across the mind's eye, allowing a vivid picture to form for the listeners as well.
Best of luck to you. It is always fantastic to see new talent coming along within the cowboy poetry genre!
Waddie Mitchell:
If I were to give one tip to an upcoming writer of poetry, I believe it would have to be this:
Good writing is ten percent inspiration and ninety percent editing. Do not fall in love with your words, in fact question every one of them and try every way you know to make them better. Leave it alone for a while then when you come back to it reassess every word, every idea, every nuance, and every profound phrase.
No one said it'd be easy. Nothing of worth is.
DW Groethe:
Annie...
There's really no way you can get by with one tip, tho, if I had to say anything, it would be "go live the life" ... that being said, here's the one thing I found that truly helped my writing. When you get done with a poem, put it away for a few days and then go back to it and start editing. It's a rare piece indeed that falls out on the paper perfectly written. Keep to the point. There's always a line or two, heck, maybe even a verse or two, that adds nothing to what the poem is trying to say. In poetry, at least for me, less is always more. Eventually, you'll get it pared down enough to call it a done deal.
There's an old saying in poetry ..."killin' your darlin's." You should look it up. It'll give you an idea of what I'm talking about. Thanks for asking and I hope this helps you out some.
Virginia Bennett:
If I could only give one tip (those who know me at all know I have no problem giving my opinion about anything!) to someone starting out in cowboy poetry, it would be to be yourself. Be genuine and authentic.
Cowboy poetry is a genre that springs from shared experiences around a type of work and a lifestyle. Because of that, if what you say doesn’t ring true to your audience, whether it’s a live crowd of ranch folks at your feet while you present your work onstage or a lone reader in a bunkhouse, they will have a hard time accepting you and REspecting you, which is a crying shame. If you have just come to ranch life as a newlywed or you want to share things you remember about your cowboy grandparents, just feel confident to say so. Say it right upfront, proudly. Not as a caveat, but as an announcement. Everyone in the audience will love you all the more for it. Your thoughts are valid and valuable so wear your newbie status as a badge of honor. You will be endeared into the hearts of even the toughest old cowboy.
On the other hand, the new writer might have been born and reared up on a big outfit but, even then, I feel my advice applies to you, too! Read lots of our great classic poets and do some research on how to technically write a poem (don’t get wallowed down in technique and grammatical rules too much, though!). Take some notes to remind you of what you feel inspired to convey and maybe start out in the style of poetry that you are drawn to when you read some classic and contemporary work penned by the authors who have gone up this poetry trail before you. Then get some words on the paper or computer screen and use your authentic voice to keep it all corralled as being distinctively yours and folks will hear that and be drawn to your unique perspective.
Be yourself and, when you tell your stories or recite your poetry, don’t don some thick, western accent that you never speak in at home. Here’s one lesson I learned from an unlikely source of poetry advice: my husband, Pete!
In 1990, as we were driving from the ranch we managed in the hills near Silt, Colorado, to my first Elko Gathering, our truck sped down the lonely Nevada roads on a cold, gray, cloudy day. Looking out the window, I noticed two ranch cowboys stopped to go through a gate in the fence along the highway. They were buckaroo to the hilt! Flat-brimmed hats and Wade-tree saddles. Tapaderos and braided, romal reins and knots in their horses’ tails. I suddenly felt small and insignificant as our pickup flew along at 65+ mph, leaving their physical presence quickly behind. But their memory was vivid in my mind. My confidence flagged and I wondered, “What am I doing here?”
I said to Pete, “I am worried now that I won’t fit in there. These guys are managing cattle on tens of thousands of acres and I work on a 640-acre ranch and I don’t have all the rigging they have. I’m gonna stick out like a sore thumb and they’ll think I’m some wannabe.”
Pete gave me words I’ve obviously never forgotten. “The folks running the Gathering asked you to come and share your poetry and stories from the part of the West you live in. They want you to represent how things are done in the mountains of Colorado. They don’t want you to be a phony representation of ranch life on the Western Slope. They invited you to be YOU! Just be you and you will always fit in and be appreciated.”
Bill Lowman:
As an artist-in-residency for the North Dakota Council on the Arts, I'd go to schools statewide to teach students how to write poetry. That word turns students off, as it did me when I was one. Most dislike poetry, to others it's intimidating. My message to them is to write about extraordinary happenings in and around their own lives and have fun at it. Intimidation? No. If you write about events you have witnessed or were involved in, you have become the expert of that poem. A common rule is to coordinate simple words to end rhyming statements that have a lot of analogous choices. Don't get yourself in-a-corner using fancy words of limited rhyming mates. Use those building up to your climax as adjectives to add flair and explanation. I don't care if it's a bit rough on meter or contains "cowboy slang," no university graduate with a doctor's degree in journalism can condemn it or should try to "correct" it. It's yours, you were there and they weren't. There are many different versions of English speech in our great country, some longer than others to be accepted by formal teachings. Regional habitat and occupations are usually the culprits of their basics, whether it is of Appalachian "hillbillies," northeast New England punctuations, southern "drawl," ethnic backgrounds, or open range "cowboy lingo." We make history every day of our lives. You can record it in your writing. Traditional cowboy poetry is verse in rhyme, where we jokingly call "free verse" poetry free verse because you can't sell it.
Yvonne Hollenbeck:
The best tip for writing cowboy poetry is to be honest and knowledgeable about what you are writing about. If you are actually involved with the cowboy way of life, then write about the way things actually are, whether humorous or serious. If you are not involved, be sure and research well enough to be knowledgeable. One hundred years from now, some school child may read one of your poems, so it needs to be accurate about the way things are in the West in 2022.
