IT'S ALL IN HOW YOU SAY IT

Post copyright by Doris McCraw

For those who may not know, April is National Poetry Month, and believe it or not, I do write poetry. Admittedly mine is specialized. I write haiku, which in its standard form is seventeen syllables composed of five on the first line, seven on the second and five on the third, usually with a reference to nature and in the original Japanese a drawing. I add my photographs to mine.It started as a writing practice and I now have over 800 that I have posted on my blog: http://fivesevenfivepage.blogspot.com. They are not cowboy or maybe even Western, but every photo I use, which I take myself, is from the West.

 Issa's portrait drawn by Muramatsu Shunpo 1772-1858 (Issa Memorial Hall,Shinano, Nagano, Japan)

There are many wonderful women poets. Many know of Emily Dickinson and Helen (Hunt) Jackson, who were friends and grew up in the same area. There is also Anne Bradstreet and Christina Rosetti. Of the four mentioned, Helen lived in the West and some of her work is about the West. But what about contemporary women poets who write about the West. I love Jane Ambrose Morton and Laurie Wagner Buyer. If you haven't read these two ladies, you are doing yourself a disservice. Their work is very readable, while giving you a glimpse of what it is like to live in the West. I think Jane's "In This Land of Little Rain" is a wonderful look at ranching on the high Colorado plains. Here is a link to some of her work: http://www.cowboypoetry.com/janemorton.htm

Laurie Wagner Buyer's early work "Glass-Eyed Paint in the Rain" is beautiful and heart wrenching, in my opinion. If you are interested in work of either of these ladies, a Google search will give you more than I can cover in this post.

And since this month is about poetry, I've committed to writing a poem a day during the month of April. Now before you think I'm crazy, I write a poem a day five days a week, so I just add another couple of days a week.

Helen (Hunt) Jackson- Poet,Novelist,Essayist and Indian Rights Activist

I will leave you with a couple of poems. First is Helen (Hunt) Jackson:

Emigravit

WITH sails full set, the ship her anchor weighs.
Strange names shine out beneath her figure head.
What glad farewells with eager eyes are said!
What cheer for him who goes, and him who stays!
Fair skies, rich lands, new homes, and untried days 
Some go to seek: the rest but wait instead,
Watching the way wherein their comrades led,
Until the next stanch ship her flag doth raise.
Who knows what myriad colonies there are
Of fairest fields, and rich, undreamed-of gains 
Thick planted in the distant shining plains
Which we call sky because they lie so far?
Oh, write of me, not “Died in bitter pains,”

 But “Emigrated to another star!”  

And yes I will share one of mine. 

Defining the West (a five part haiku)

Defining Western
Journeying toward an end
Sunset of our lives


Traveling westward
Moving ahead of the sun
Toward all things new


Early pathfinder

Paved way for all who followed

Seeding a new growth

Men riding horses
Women and children also
Mythology tales

Mountain barriers
Endless prairie and hardship
Overcoming all

As writers we all have something to say. We work at our craft to express the thoughts we have and want others to understand. We may do it in essays, non-fiction biographies and fiction. Some may even try poetry. I would encourage you to try it. After all, its not always what you say, but how you say it. Until next month, happy writing, ready and enjoy Spring.

Doris McCraw/Angela Raines

http://www.amazon.com/Home-His-Heart-Angela-Raines-ebook/dp/B00LU3HZEK/

Home For His Heart - Angela Raines on Itunes