Cowboy Poetry and the Big "Pay Off"

Cowboy Poetry and the Big "Pay Off"
(June, 2012)

I have been writing cowboy western poetry as long as I can remember. I have invested far more money in pursuing this pastime that I have ever earned from pursuing it. I have not earned many ego building honors for my efforts. I have spent years producing and servicing four web sites devoted to cowboy western poetry and enduring the frustration and ulcers that goes with internet activity. I didn’t make a cent from them. So, you might wonder...wasn’t that a stupid waste of time?

Indeed one of the collateral side effects of devoting myself to writing cowboy western poetry was the interminable condescension of most of my peers. “Oh, are you a cowboy poet or are you a poet who writes about cowboys?” I get their drift. They don’t particularly like poetry in general; but they particularly don’t like cowboy poetry. Once in awhile to impress someone they will quote a line from T. S. Eliot or some other contemporary writer they studied in a compulsory college course. But to tell you the truth, they probably don’t like T.S. Eliot all that much either. (I know a few....I took the same lit classes they did...and I remember their adverse comments about Eliot. )

So why do I sing the praises of those past hours and days and years spent writing and reading cowboy poetry and enduring the ulcers that went along with those four web sites?

About a month ago, I traveled to Rochester, Minnesota, and spent a day at the Mayo Clinic. I turned 82 in May and figured it would be a smart move, given my age, to get a thorough physical examination by top-notch practitioners. I drove to Rochester by myself. No problem. I drive everywhere by myself. In short, I am very independent and determined to remain that way. I function in the same manner as I did when I was in my 40s. The medical staff commented and marveled at my physical and mental well-being. The nurse in particular asked in all seriousness, what was my secret. She even thought I looked considerably less than my age....and she really, and seriously, wanted to know why I had not suffered the ravages of age that beset the majority of folks my age. I told her I kept busy...that I had written three published books of cowboy western poetry; that I spent many hours memorizing several dozen poems for purposes of recitation at cowboy gatherings; that I was currently writing a historical novel called The Man With The Whip-Scarred Back. She wanted to know about the book; and I explained that it was the story of a Russian serf who came to the United States in 1868. I told her that in preparation for this book, I read at least a dozen books dealing with serfdom in Russia.

She told me that she had figured out the “secret” of my physical and mental well-being. It was the “pay-off” for all those years writing cowboy western poetry and historical data; and the mental stimulation involved in being a webmaster. I didn’t make much money from either endeavor...but I found a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. I am 82 years old and my mind is as sharp as it was when I was in my 40s. (That may not be saying much, but you play with the cards you’re dealt with.)

The mind is a muscle, the same as those in your arms, legs and body. If you don’t exercise your body, it will go to pot on you. Mine has. But I did exercise the muscles in my brain writing all those cowboy poems and historical data , and working on the book publications....and my mind hasn’t. That is the “big pay off” in studying, writing and memorizing cowboy western poetry. That’s worth more than money.

So to all you cowboy poets out there...I say, keep on writing and studying your art. There’s a big “Pay-Off” for doing it that money can’t buy!