TEXAS COWBOY POETRY GATHERING

We met Marvin & Nancy Kelso from Gaylord, MI while at Big Bend
and reconnected at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering. 

Fred and Jill Moon, friends from Williamsburg, Michigan
                

Dale Burson (Ctr)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qRgCLI0Anw - great guitar player!

I know it's been awhile since I last blogged, and there's so much I want to share with you about what we did between New Orleans, LA and Alpine, TX, but I just have to tell you about what we've experienced over the past few days in Alpine, TX!!  We had heard of the TEXAS COWBOY POETRY GATHERING over the years but "steered" clear of the area while it was happening.  This year friends from home, Jill and Fred Moon (pictured above), happened to mention in an email that they were looking forward to getting out of the Michigan snowbank and flying to West Texas for this Cowboy gathering. We arrived in Big Bend National Park on Jan. 30 and thought somehow we needed to try and "hitch" up with them while they were so close. They said they had done this before and LOVED it and it was a must do. So we stayed at the National Park for three weeks and joined in on the fun. What fun it was and we for sure will attend next year if we're out this way. From the Chuckwagon breakfast with real cowboy coffee to the old and young cowboys and cowgirls singing or reciting poetry, it was so much fun. So if you are ever down here the last weekend in February make sure you join in. 

Cooks start campfires at 4 a.m. to bake Dutch Oven buiscuts. 

Delicious Cowboy coffee!

A favorite: Dan Roberts  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1ABpZfhhqc

So many varied interpretations and styles of poetry, great stories and music. So inspiring and entertaining. Here are a few more of my favorites.

Click Here:  KRISTYN HARRIS. Her yodeling was contagious.

Loved Mike Blakely:  MIKE BLAKELY MUSIC
Also Mary Kaye: MARY KAYE


Enjoyed so many great poems. This one is a true story about the Texas Buffalo written and recited by Linda Kirkpatrick.

Mary Ann's Legacy I rode to the edge of the caprock And gazed in the canyon below I thought of a time and a lady And of her life of so long ago. I watched the remains of her legacy Thundering within the canyon wall, While the red-tailed hawk soared peacefully Beckoning with its lonely call. The preservation of the buffalo Was the center of her dream, And because of this honored lady The hunter was not supreme. She had returned in desperation To a Texas she’d once known. Vowing to never leave the canyon And to forever call this land home She saw to the needs of her husband And to the cowhands on the old JA She was wife, mother, sister, doctor And preacher when they’d lost their way. Life in the canyon was lonely Her chickens her closest friends Her undying love for the buffalo Stayed with her until her life’s end Mary Ann Goodnight grieved and watched As progress raised its vicious head And as way was cleared for progress They shot the buffalo dead. During the day she heard the rifles ringing And at night the orphan calves bawl, As these sounds echoed the canyon With their haunting lonely call Her heart pained for the buffalo babies And her feelings she did convey So Charlie went out and roped two for her The ancestors of these today. The rest of the herd was swallowed up As if it had never been As the canyon walls loomed in silence And Mary Ann’s buffalo lived within. Millions once roamed the canyons But now there are only a few But thanks to Mary Ann Goodnight Hers are here for me and you. Mural in downtown Alpine, TX  This mama is letting her babies grow up to be cowboys!

Mary Ann's Legacy
I rode to the edge of the caprock
And gazed in the canyon below
I thought of a time and a lady
And of her life of so long ago.

I watched the remains of her legacy
Thundering within the canyon wall,
While the red-tailed hawk soared peacefully
Beckoning with its lonely call.

The preservation of the buffalo
Was the center of her dream,
And because of this honored lady
The hunter was not supreme.

She had returned in desperation
To a Texas she’d once known.
Vowing to never leave the canyon
And to forever call this land home

She saw to the needs of her husband
And to the cowhands on the old JA
She was wife, mother, sister, doctor
And preacher when they’d lost their way.

Life in the canyon was lonely
Her chickens her closest friends
Her undying love for the buffalo
Stayed with her until her life’s end

Mary Ann Goodnight grieved and watched
As progress raised its vicious head
And as way was cleared for progress
They shot the buffalo dead.

During the day she heard the rifles ringing
And at night the orphan calves bawl,
As these sounds echoed the canyon
With their haunting lonely call

Her heart pained for the buffalo babies
And her feelings she did convey
So Charlie went out and roped two for her
The ancestors of these today.

The rest of the herd was swallowed up
As if it had never been
As the canyon walls loomed in silence
And Mary Ann’s buffalo lived within.

Millions once roamed the canyons
But now there are only a few
But thanks to Mary Ann Goodnight
Hers are here for me and you.

Mural in downtown Alpine, TX 

This mama is letting her babies grow up to be cowboys!