15th Annual Arizona Cowboy Poets Gathering
Poster Poems

Each year the Gathering poets are invited to write stories in verse about what they see in the poster art. These Poster Poems are read or recited during the Gathering for an audience that usually includes the poster artist. Artists have been fascinated with the diverse interpretations the poets have found for their paintings.

Here is a sampling of the Poster Poems for 2002, spun off from Bill Anton's painting, "Spellbound."

by Lee Brimhall, Prescott, Arizona

When day is done on Burro Creek I top out on the rim
And see that country far and wide as day begins to dim
I gaze across that wide expanse of canyons wide and deep
A way off in the distance stands a mountain tall and steep.

Away from town and city life 'mid rugged rocks and hills
I hear the sounds of night set in and get a pleasant thrill.
Then back across the other way a mountain looms up high
With granite peaks and ridges there that point up to the sky.

Side draws, slopes and turtlebacks all shaped by nature's hand,
To be there in the midst of it the feeling sure is grand.
I realize how small I am compared to that vast land
And how to take good care of it I try to understand.

I hear a night owl start to hoot then the callin' of a quail
A cow then bellows for her calf below her on the trail.
While it's still light I look across and view that canyon side
Where many times I've worked with stock and where I soon will ride.

To get down to the old ranch house before the night sets in,
To rest up and be ready when the new day will begin.
My trusty steed has worked for me all through the long hard day
And I dismount and set a bit as daylight fades away.

The sinking sun is almost gone with western skies ablaze
And as I watch the setting sun I sit there all amazed.
I see a vast array out there of colors, shades and hues
And I just sit there all entranced, enjoying that awesome view.

Those high and grassy mesas there above those canyons deep
Their picture in the setting sun in memory I will keep.
That wild and rugged country there just stretches out for miles
And I remember working there has had it's hopes and trials.

The Great Creator sure must like wild country like that there
Because He made so much of it, with lots of it to spare
Where stock will thrive if managed well and wildlife do well too,
For we improve the forage here because of what we do.

I hear a soft and rustling sound that's coming from the trees
And I feel things cool off a bit because of that mild breeze
I know that my description just will not tell the whole story
So I give thanks to artists who paint it in it's full glory.

So I must mount up and head for home but I am still spellbound,
Then soon I hear folks doing chores and it's a welcome sound.
Then once again I think how much I love this vivid land
And how to live and work with it is where I make my stand.

Spellbound by Bill Anton
Spellbound by Bill Anton


By Carole Jarvis, Wickenburg, Arizona

Seems I've spent a thousand nightfalls
Watchin' evenin' stars grow bright
As the old earth slowly darkens
In the sunís last fadin' light.

It's a time to shed my worries
Let the rest of the world go by
Alone out here, just me and my horse,
Underneath God's big wide sky.

Hear that old coyote howlin', Blaze?
Bet he feels a lot like me
Satisfied with the life he's got,
Content at just bein' free.

'Cuz the trails are never too rough
And the days are never too long
If you're livin' this cowboy life
And know it's where you belong.

I can't see into the future
But I've seen into the past
Through the eyes of cowboys gone now
And the wide loop that they cast.

For their lives were never hollow
And their dreams were never small
But you didn't want to push 'em
With their back against a wall.

Sittin' quiet like, this evenin',
I can feel their spirits near
As though in some mysterious way
What I'm thinkin' they can hear.

Guess it's part of the connection
Us old cowboys come to know
That ties the life we're livin' now
To those days of long ago.

For much of what our life's about
Goes beyond cows and the land
It's bein' in the company
Of cowboys who made a hand.

by Howard Norskog, St. Anthony, Idaho

He's just a man who lives in his dreams
Of rivers and mountains, pastures and streams,
Of a ranch house in a valley, restin' up high,
Those days with the family that's long since gone by.

Now he's all alone as the years disappear.
The night closes in and darkness draws near.
The bones seem to tell him that he'll be the last
As another generation moves into the past.

But horses and dogs all move through his mind,
Memories of friends, the good and the kind,
Pictures of trails that pass through the land
Where he lived and he loved, the life of a man.

Memories come flooding as the light fades away,
His mother and father in those bygone days,
And there in the twilight he sees once again
A life out behind him that sings on the wind.

by Mike Dunn, Mesa, Arizona

The view is vast from the middle rim.
Dismounted, he gazes across the land.
The same land more than a century before,
in settling, his family had taken a hand.
Weather's dry in a cloudless sky,
summer'll be hot, he can tell.
But the gathering, along with springtime chores,
has really gone quite well.

Three mama cows and earmarked calves
graze upon the offside ridge.
A quarter mile on, a doe and fawn
are near its upper edge.
Sister's mare with her new foal,
he watches down below,
Along with Dan, his old retired horse,
Oh, it was hard to let him go.

The rim's edge is a rugged ride,
checking for the last of the strays
But the trail is so, once started down,
they'll pretty much find their own way.
And it's no chore, it's a welcome ride,
one he's done time and again.
When first he rode along that rim,
he'd not yet reached ten.

The age his kids are now far beyond,
which gives him cause to pause,
In awe of how life's played out
and how it continues on.
Both up and down his eye are filled
with that of earth and heaven,
With wonders of life, more often then not,
only passing thoughts are given.

His horse stands quiet as stars appear,
the cowboy lingers longer.
Immersed in thought of past and present,
it's the cowboy's time to ponder.
He's got to go, he tells himself, but
suspended, gazing through time's eye,
His delay continues, even though the ranch
is still a two-hour ride.

With sounds of night, the skyline's lit,
the city's glow has sat upon,
Breaking the dark, above the ranch,
some thirty miles beyond.
In the valley there's a single, distant light
from the ranch house his granddad built.
Humbled, knowing family is there,
far safer then their forbears could have felt.

Thoughts are deepened, petition laid,
as if in prayer he asks to tell,
Why life, with all its blessings,
has cared for him so well?
Time holds fast the past and present
and for the cowboy, a glimpse is given,
The wonders of life that leaves him Spellbound, on a rim...
somewhere between earth and heaven.

by Ray Owens, Artesia, New Mexico

Sittin' here and lookin' yonder,
Just a-lettin' my thoughts wander
Sorta' soakin' in the scen'ry all around.
Takin' time to muse and ponder
Why it is folks seem to squander
All the beauty that's so often easy found.

Hard to figure why they do it,
As if there was nothin' to it,
This awesome, lonely ruggedness so grand.
No consideration given
To the folks who make their livin'
A' carin' for the livestock and the land.

"We'll make millions!" they all rave,
"Sub-divide, and fence and pave,"
And I reckon that's exactly what they'll do,
But for the moment I'll enjoy
Scenes I've known since just a boy,
Land I've never once got tired of ridin' through.

It's hard to say just how you feel
Though you know it's dang sure real
These emotions deep inside you so profound
But if I had to choose one word
From all the many ones I've heard
To describe it, I'd simply say "Spellbound."

And if the money men succeeed
To destroy with all their greed
They'll never kill the mem'ries in my mind
'Cuz through the years I'll hold on tight
To times like on this star-filled night
When for a while I left my worries far behind.

by Larry McWhorter, Weatherford, Texas

Dear Lord, I left her crying,
But I had to get away,
And though we've been together many years,
She's crying more here lately
And I don't know what to say,
'Cause I feel that I'm the reason for her tears

Lord, what happened in those years
That made us drift apart?
When used to we saw most things eye to eye?
But now she just looks past me
Like she's lost her hope and heart
And given up and now won't even try.

I can't blame her much I guess
I'm not much company
With drought and eco-bandits on the prowl,
And both of them seem bent on
Takin' what belongs to me
While I can't do a thing but snap and growl.

Are her eyes accusing me
Of one more dream that's failed?
Or is it just a disappointed stare
That leaves me with the feeling
Of a heart that's been impaled
And gives me one more burden I must bear.

Where do I go from here Lord?
I've tried most all I know
To meet my cattle's and my family's needs.
I've tried it on my own but now
I've nowhere else to go
So here I am, before You on my knees.

A man once told You, "I believe,
But help my unbelief."
Right now I know just what that feller meant.
Trusting what we can't observe
Don't give our hearts relief
When we can't see Your end or Your intent.

I guess You need to keep us close
Until the water clears
So we can see just what You have in mind.
I confess I've strayed a bit
Like one of my ol' steers...
Is that why she feels alone and left behind?

Have I let the world decide
How much my family's worth?
Have I got caught up too much in the race?
When all she says she wants for me
Goes far beyond this earth,
When side by side we face You face to face?

I love this life You gave me,
I'm grateful for the chance
To do some things most folks don't get to do,
But if I died tomorrow
There'd be another fill my pants
But that won't mean a thing to her and You.

Like You, she'll only be aware
Of if she felt my love
When it could do some good here in this life.
Will her memories of me
Be thoughts I'd be proud of?
Will she recall a man who loved his wife?

I can't see the future
But I can see the now
And I hope it ain't too late to change the end.
I'll leave tomorrow to You,
If I work machine or cow,
But right now, walk me home, we've hearts to mend.