Cowboy Poetry at the Mariposa County Library by Linda Gast

People of all ages turned out to hear local poet Wendy Brown-Barry tell her Cowboy Poetry and to meet Flash her eleven year old Australian Shepherd.  Wendy even recited a poem she had written about what a great dog Flash is.  Flash passed out buttons with his photo on it to all the children and even to some of his  older admirers.  Horse Veterinarian, Dr. Madison Seamans was also at the library and recited a few of his Cowboy Poems during Cowboy Poetry Week.

Nine years ago cowboypoetry.com initiated Cowboy Poetry Week.  In April 2003 the U.S. Senate passed a resolution, with unanimous approval, recognizing the Cowboy Poetry Week celebration.  Cowboypoetry.com sponsors the Bar-D Ranch web site.  Their mission is to preserve and celebrate the arts and life of rural communities everywhere.

Cowboy Poetry is an oral tradition of the Old West that was born on the cattle drives of the eighteen hundreds.  Sitting around their campfires, cowboys began a tradition of story telling, poetry, and song that has survived on ranches from Texas to Montana, and in recent years has entered the mainstream of literary genre.  The themes are universal, with heavy emphasis on nature, history, folklore, family, friends, and work. 

“Cowboy poetry records the heartbeat of the real working West, in a tradition that spans three centuries.  Ranchers, cowboys, and Western writers represent the voices of this vital-yet endangered-rural culture.”         

Please visit Wendy’s web site: www.wendybrown-barry.com