The award recognizes both content and production, the latter recognition going to Western Poetry Publications (an imprint of The Resource Network). Specifically, the award recognizes books which exemplify “…the combination of excellent content, high production values and honoring of the Cowboy Heritage that the award was created to acknowledge.”

The award has special meaning for me in that Will Rogers was one of my heroes in the early 1930s. His story-telling ability and his unmatched sense of humor were much appreciated during those days during the Great Depression and drought as I was growing up in the Sandhills of Nebraska.

Although he had his problems…and quite aside from his Senate “battle flag” (his HULK tie)…I found him to be a warm and friendly conversational person when I became acquainted with him as we were the only first class passengers on a flight from Washington, D.C. to Anchorage years ago. We talked about the world and books and politics but, during all that conversation, we didn’t introduce ourselves and I never realized that he was a Senator.

As we approached Anchorage, he said his daughter was meeting the plane and asked if I’d like a ride to my hotel where I was scheduled to facilitate a strategic planning seminar. I accepted, of course. It wasn’t until the next morning that I learned who my flight companion had been…his picture was beneath a newspaper headline, “Senator Stevens home…” I saw him again a couple of times when I was in the Capitol lobbying on behalf of housing and transportation needs in Washington State and he seemed always to have time to talk for a bit.

He was a good man with a sense of human needs and I greatly value my brief, yet casual, acquaintance with him.

I wanted to thank you directly but I was unable to find your address.

So, I thank you here publicly. I am tremendously pleased that you selected the poem to be used in opening the show that evening, especially since the book Chopin With Cherries edited by Maja Trochimczyk contained so many wonderful tributes to Chopin and his work.

Thank you again,

Clark

… I consider us to be believers in the expression of speaking truth to power… [Too often, this becomes an “in-your-face” kind of confrontation which alienates the power and the public from appreciating or valuing poetic expression. Raging rants and raves are rarely convincing.]

…My audience is no longer limited to the 500 copies of a chapbook or a few students in a college classroom… [That limitation has been, and is, in fact, the essence of the problem. Poetry has migrated from the public venues it enjoyed in the 1800s and early 1900s…from the newspapers, the stage, and community programs… to the cloistered halls of academia where it is taught and practiced for the benefit of peers and unwitting students rather than for the edification and enjoyment of the public. What poems of today’s creation are memorable and recited by members of the general public? What verse of today stands as tall as many traditional poems such as “The Village Blacksmith?”]

…What if my new poems resemble text messages?… [What a terrible thought…the destruction of language in the name of poetry… “2 b or not 2 b is the ?” At the very least, the poet must stand strong and fast for our heritage of language, of literature, of lyrical expression and for the ultimate understanding of the reader.]

…I wrote celebratory poems after Obama’s election; in one I tried to be experimental, because I felt it was the only way I could structurally produce work that echoed the times… [Faced with the reality of Dr. Elizabeth Alexander’s literary disappointment, who of us did not try to create a celebratory poem which might poetically redeem our profession? But most have been a disappointment because of their implicit need for interpretation before we could understand their experiential concepts and structures. A commemorative poem must have a forward-looking theme, clarity, understandability, and recitability…and, as to structure, how can one recite for that great occasion a poem in the shape of a tree, a heart, or some other bit of eye candy?]

…As the new decade unfolds, I find myself more hesitant to recite in public. Too often the venues seem to cater to performance and entertainment… [What a wonderful opportunity to reach out to the general public, to a society which aches for information, enlightenment, and entertainment. What better venue for a poem of spiritual, political, social, economic, educational, or informational import, presented in an informative and entertaining way, than out among the folks who can make things happen?]

…I want to be the type of poet who maintains a closeness to the earth… [Better, a closeness to the people because the future of poetry depends more upon the reader than upon the poet. It demands that poetry be a voice of, by, and for the people reaching out with respect for our great poetic heritage. “Poetica Populi!”]

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About this writer: Clark Crouch is a prize-winning western and cowboy poet and performing artist. He is the author of seven books, one of which, Western Images, won the 2008 Will Rogers Medallion Award for cowboy poetry. He appears throughout the Northwest at fairs, community gatherings, nursing and retirement homes, service clubs, and other public venues. His latest publication is a poem, “Chopin’s Minute Waltz,” which appears in a contemporary poetic anthology, Chopin with Cherries: a tribute in verse, which was officially presented during the 3rd International Chopin Congress (an event celebrating the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth) in Warsaw, Poland, February 24-March 1, 2010.

Sorta unusual, but real nice for an old cowboy to be featured along with an impressive array of modern poets. But it’s understandable ’cause Chopin’s music transcends time and was much appreciated in the salons, saloons, and opera houses of the American West.

The book, an anthology of contemporary poetry edited by Maja Trochimczyk, will be officially presented during the 3rd International Chopin Congress (an event celebrating the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth) in Warsaw, Poland, February 24-March 1, 2010.

A second edition of the collection, planned for release next fall, will be bilingual and will include Polish translations by Polish-American poets: Leonard Kress, Maja Trochimczyk, Janusz Zalewski, and others.

Jinglin’ Spurs Things can get pretty eerie when you’re riding on a moonless night.

Western Wife This is a tribute to the wives of those who dared move into the unknown territory of the American West. Somehow many survived, some thrived, and some died along the way.

Waltz of the Weeds The tumbleweed, the weed of the west, is also somewhat a weed of mystery. A variety is said to be a native of North America while another variety is said to have “immigrated” as a stowaway in loads of grain received from Europe in the late 1800s. The young plants are even edible and supplanted the pioneer diet. But you’ve seen nothing until you’ve seen the Waltz of the Weeds.

Westerners

We’ve just previewed Westerners, a newly released album of western and cowboy music by Nevada Slim and Cimarron Sue (Bruce and Sue Matley of Prescott, Washington). They offer some of their own compositions as well as a generous touch of traditional songs for a total of seventeen tracks.

Their selection of music and their unique renditions make it easy to understand why they are in such great demand on the Northwestern fair circuit, serving up nearly 175 performances in 2009. Fans will love this album which concludes with a thirty-eight second flashback to years of yore as 4-year-old Slim sings his own composition, “Buddy and Me,” and new listeners will certainly become fans.

My own bias leans toward “Border Affair” which is a musical rendition of a poem by a 1940 acquaintance of mine, Charles “Badger” Clark, the classic cowboy poet who was then Poet Laureate of South Dakota. Then, too, my wife and I especially enjoyed “Don’t Fence Me In” which was our junior class theme song in 1944-45. Great stuff!

The tracks are: I Ride the Range the Modern Way, Show Me Mister, Cattle Call, The Cowboy That Made Me Blue, They Call The Wind Mariah, Common Wisdom, Border Affair (Spanish is the Loving Tongue), Don’t Fence Me In, Coyotes, Home to You, The West, I’ve Got Spurs, Waitin’ For Ice Cream, The Ranch That I Can’t See, Happy Trails, and Buddy and Me

The album can be previewed and purchased at CD Baby and there’s more about this dynamic western duo on their website.

There’s quite a lineup of other talent: Stonewall Jackson, Jimmy Fortune, Sourdough Slim, Sage Keifer, Smoke Wade, B. J. Smith, Sam Deleeuw, Zac Grooms, Joshua Crosby, Shiloh Sharrard, Rod Erikson, Bodie Dominguez, and Coyote Joe Sarton.

The books are: Where Horses Reign; Sun, Sand & Soapweed; Western Images; and Views from the Saddle. Western Images was the 2008 winner of the Will Rogers Medallion Award for Cowboy Poetry.