Cowboy Poetry: Old Sorrel Mare Turning More and More Roan

[bookblather]

Cowboy poetry did not stop when the west was declared a closed frontier. Cowboys still ride and work today, and though they no longer are so isolated as they once were, they still spend much of their time in each other's company. Cowboy poetry, usually recited or otherwise performed, is a thriving genre, with a vast and appreciative community, though it is concentrated largely and unsurprisingly in the western United States. There is even an annual Cowboy Poetry Week, which I have missed by two weeks, but so it goes.

Unfortunately, I was unable to get permission to post any contemporary poems to this community. I was, however, able to get permission to link you to one, so if you don't mind, click on over here to read one of my favorite contemporary cowboy poems, "Old Sorrel Mare Turning More and More Roan" by Paul Zarzyski. I'll wait here.

Back? Okay.

Mr. Zarzyski was actually my first introduction to cowboy poetry, with his book Wolf Tracks on the Welcome Mat. Obviously, he doesn't write traditional cowboy poetry: Old Sorrel Mare does not have a distinct rhythm or a lyrical setup. It does deal with cowboy life, specifically the horse, and contemporary ranching at its most basic: feeding and caring for an old horse who can no longer do the work but is still deserving of love and respect. In that sense, it is much like No Rest for the Horse, narrating a day in the life of the poet, and meditating on horses as partners, almost family.

Most importantly, at least in my mind, Old Sorrel Mare is meant to be performed.

Mr. Zarzyski came to my freshman-year class on road stories to discuss his poetry, and to read a few of them. Old Sorrel Mare was one of the poems he read, and it remained in my head for a long time afterwards, reverberating in his voice. Read it aloud yourself, and hear the stops and starts. It doesn't have a song's rhythm, but there's a beat all its own in there.

Do you agree with me that this is cowboy poetry, for reasons beyond the fact that Mr. Zarzyski is a cowboy himself? If you were to write your own cowboy poem, would you keep the traditional rhythms, or move to more contemporary styles?

I highly suggest reading more of Mr. Zarzyski's poems, incidentally: I had a really, really hard time choosing just one to share.

Comments

[alee_grrl]

I would agree that this is cowboy poetry. Not only does it deal with the daily life of a cowboy (or more specifically his horse), but it does have a rhythm that, while not traditionally song-like, manages to convey the loneliness of the plains and the heartache of a man watching a dear friend get older.

[bookblather]

This is true! There's also, to me, an echo of the connectedness you get with those who live with you on the plains, the bonds you build with the people and the animals who go along with you. The sorrel mare really is family to the poet; he links her with his mother, and mkaes it clear that he feels very affectionate towards her. That connection keeps the poem from being completely heartbreaking to me.

[jjhunter]

When I read it silently, the bit that jumped out at me was the bit about 'the ultimate /meaning of life is nothing /more than accepting death. Now, on reread aloud, I am struck more by the quiet elegance of this one

arm draped around her drooping neck

and the way that the morning routine is a series of actions that do not stop but flow one into the other, each distinct with its comma, and yet the horse the poem does not stop walking but keeps going as if every line is the way life is.

Re: your previous example, I commented that each line had a "conversational inevitability"; here that is true of each phrase, however any particular phrase might be broken up across the lines. That to me seems characteristic of cowboy poetry, so I would agree that this example here fits in the same genre. If I were a cowboy poet myself, I would likely do a mix of old and new until I found a voice that seemed like it had always been.

Incidentally, thank you very much for contacting the poet & asking about his policies re: reposting vs linking; it can be disappointing to be denied permission to repost, but the act of asking can itself become ground for future relationships that benefit the community as a whole. (For example, I would feel much more comfortable asking Mr. Zarzyski if he would be interested in Hosting here knowing that we've been respectful of his wishes re: copyright than I would without any prior contact, and definitely more comfortable than if we had violated his policies on copyright in some way in the past.) So thank you for being a good POETREE ambassador; I hope you consider sharing a link to this post with Mr. Zarzyski so that he'll have a chance to read and respond to our thoughts and feedback if he chooses.

[bookblather]

Oh, of course! I only managed to get in touch with his agent, who said they'd rather not have it reposted, but it's his poem and his copyright, so. His stuff. I'll send them the link and see if he wants to drop by. :D

until I found a voice that seemed like it had always been.

I like this, very much. It comes back to the inevitability of cowboy poetry; there's an element of improvisation, but at the same time there's something eternal about it, as if that's the way the poem or song was, as if it existed somewhere outside the poet and the poet was just pulling it into being. Like a walking or running horse, everything flowing into itself, and going and going no matter the mistakes, because that's what you have to do.