tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-685065582281848343.post3404280680254093581..comments2023-09-28T03:28:17.063-04:00Comments on 3 Ring Binder: Great PoemLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12178771612031280593noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-685065582281848343.post-15357641386602113052008-04-24T21:59:00.000-04:002008-04-24T21:59:00.000-04:00As someone who LOVES poetry, I'll just say Hooray!...As someone who LOVES poetry, I'll just say Hooray! <I>If</I> is one of my favorites, and <I>The Westerner</I> is, too. <BR/><BR/>I just get all goose-bumpy, too, when I hear of kids getting into great poems. How awesome!Jenn Caseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07849654785544313839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-685065582281848343.post-35411674390426432292008-04-24T17:41:00.000-04:002008-04-24T17:41:00.000-04:00Thanks, Clay. I didn't know that. Now I can add in...Thanks, Clay. I didn't know that. <I>Now</I> I can add in the sobbing.Lynnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12178771612031280593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-685065582281848343.post-67926760897598989722008-04-24T17:13:00.000-04:002008-04-24T17:13:00.000-04:00"If" was read at Ayn Rand's funeral."If" was read at Ayn Rand's funeral.Clayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01355381643953755204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-685065582281848343.post-5886256812473922542008-04-23T17:01:00.000-04:002008-04-23T17:01:00.000-04:00Found it!The Westerner by Badger ClarkMy fathers...Found it!<BR/><BR/>The Westerner <BR/>by Badger Clark<BR/><BR/>My fathers sleep on the sunrise plains,<BR/> And each one sleeps alone.<BR/>Their trails may dim to the grass and rains,<BR/> For I choose to make my own.<BR/>I lay proud claim to their blood and name, <BR/> But I lean on no dead kin;<BR/>My name is mine, for the praise or scorn,<BR/>And the world began when I was born<BR/> And the world is mine to win.<BR/><B>(That's the line, there.)</B><BR/><BR/>They built high towns on their old log sills,<BR/> Where the great, slow rivers gleamed,<BR/>But with new, live rock from the savage hills<BR/> I'll build as they only dreamed.<BR/>The smoke scarce dies where the trail camp<BR/> lies, <BR/> Till the rails glint down the pass;<BR/>The desert springs into fruit and wheat<BR/>And I lay the stones of a solid street<BR/> Over yesterday's untrod grass.<BR/><BR/>I waste no thought on my neighbor's birth<BR/> Or the way he makes his prayer.<BR/>I grant him a <I>white man's</I> room on earth<BR/> If his game is only square.<BR/>While he plays it straight I'll call him mate; <BR/> If he cheats I drop him flat.<BR/>Old class and rank are a wornout lie,<BR/>For all clean men are as good as I, <BR/> And a king is only that.<BR/><BR/>I dream no dreams of a nurse-maid state <BR/> That will spoon me out my food.<BR/>A stout heart sings in the fray with fate <BR/> And the shock and sweat are good.<BR/>From noon to noon all the earthly boon <BR/> That I ask my God to spare<BR/>Is a little daily bread in store,<BR/>With the room to fight the strong for more, <BR/> And the weak shall get their share.<BR/><BR/>The sunrise plains are a tender haze<BR/> And the sunset seas are gray,<BR/>But I stand here, where the bright skies blaze <BR/> Over me and the big today.<BR/>What good to me is a vague "maybe" <BR/> Or a mournful "might have been,"<BR/>For the sun wheels swift from morn to morn <BR/>And the world began when I was born <BR/> And the world is mine to win.<BR/><BR/>I added the emphasis to "white man's". Other than that, which is really just in opposition to the "red man" of those times, I think it's a great poem.Lynnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12178771612031280593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-685065582281848343.post-37726478120320515932008-04-23T15:54:00.000-04:002008-04-23T15:54:00.000-04:00Yeah. I think it's pretty awesome, too (general re...Yeah. I think it's pretty awesome, too (general reaction: teary-eyed, but not sobbing liked when they opened those big curtains on the Fort McHenry flag to the acapella version of the Star-Spangled Banner - man, that was plain ugly).<BR/><BR/>I'm not big into poems either, but I do like a certain rhythm and stress, not to mention I'm a sucker for a good rhyming pattern in addition to the fact that what this says is just damn good.<BR/><BR/>I think another similar poem (perhaps the one referred to in the book) is by some cowboy poet. If I remember correctly there is a problem with his non-PC treatment of Indians (oops, I mean Native Americans). I'll comment here if I find it.Lynnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12178771612031280593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-685065582281848343.post-91855249763437020972008-04-23T15:20:00.000-04:002008-04-23T15:20:00.000-04:00Awesome. I got chills by the last stanza.And I ha...Awesome. I got chills by the last stanza.<BR/><BR/>And I had never heard that poem before either. I've never been much for poetry.<BR/><BR/>I'll definitely remember this one though. My kids can count on hearing it in the coming years!C. Augusthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05860759500684485756noreply@blogger.com