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Show I'd rather see the silken hide And rolls on rolls of fat; That's where the dollar really lies, That's where the kale is at. I'd rather take my milking pail, And squeeze and squeeze each "tit," Than chase them o'er the ragged land As hard as I can "git." Today, literary activities continue to be of importance in the lives of many Utahns and an impressive amount of verse is currently being written and shared. Similarly, Utah's historic mix of agriculture with ranching continues to play a role in the cowboy poetry that is being composed. After visiting with a number of contemporary Utahns who write verse based upon experiences with cattle culture, folklorist Gary Stanton reported that their compositions "often arose from striking incidents of a mixed agricultural life, not necessarily [from] a life involving cattle and horses. Moreover, the milk cow and the plow horse were more often the motive forces in their verse." (unpublished report on cowboy poetry in Utah, p. 1, 1984) Although the fact that ranching is important but no longer central to Utah's modern economy has possibly resulted in relatively fewer cowboy poets than in some of the neighboring states, it has done nothing to detract from the quality or authenticity of the work that is being produced. Instead, those Utah cowboy poets who continue to write verse are creating poetry that not only fits into the century-long tradition that preceded them, but are writing poems that capture the cowboy experience with insight and skill. Utah's contemporary cowboy poets, though relatively few in number, have produced a body of work which speaks well for them and which they can be proud to share. Cowboy Poetry From Utah 19 |