Rhymes and Times

Some of you may wonder when/where I started writing poetry.  Well, I call it poetry although some of it is pretty lame.  Most of it would be considered doggerel rather than serious poetry.  I suppose it began in college  back in the 70's when I wrote a few songs.  I never did much with the songs, although I did copyright a few of them.  I would have to dig pretty hard to find them.

The next attempt at poetry would have been in the 80's when I took a "Cowboy Poetry" class from Cindy Buchanan who supposedly was a descendant of Cynthia Ann Parker -- the mother of Quanah Parker.  It was in Olton and there were probably a dozen of us that attended.  She did a later class in Lubbock which I also attended.  I met some interesting people in those classes.

After that, I wrote a few poems here and there that might be considered cowboy poetry.  I say, "might be" because I never really was a cowboy, so they more accurately would be considered poems written about the cowboy/ranching lifestyle by a non-cowboy.  They were infrequent and often written in odd circumstances such as while helping with a hamburger cookout for a feedyard crew.  I recall hearing a funny story from one of the cowboys and then creating a poem about it on a napkin.  Some years later I was in the feedyard and the poem had been framed and was hanging on the wall in the office.

It wasn't until I started this blog that I began to write poetry fairly consistently.  I probably prefer prose, but the challenge of writing in rhymes appeals to me.  It requires frequently rearranging thoughts and lines to be able to couple words that rhyme.  It also has a rhythmic quality that is similar to writing music.

If you were to go back through the fairly lengthy history (started in February, 2007) of this blog you will find that I go through periods of poetry and periods of prose.  There is also a two-year gap when I put nothing into the blog.  That doesn't mean I wasn't writing, I just wasn't doing so regularly or, for putting on this particular venue.

It is also interesting to note the things that are popular with readers (Saturday's post about growing up in a small town is one of them).  I don't necessarily write this for others, but mostly for myself.  It is a way to record my thoughts and to leave something for my family if they should be curious.  I don't know that my words will tell them much, but perhaps there will be a few clues sprinkled here and there about who I am/was.

I wish I had such from my parents, grandparents, and the generations before them.  It would interest me greatly.  Anyway, that's my thoughts this morning....