Virgil

I like it Virgil, but I can't really give you more than that. I don't know much about the technical aspects of poetry. It's likely why I don't enter into that section of the forum much. All I can do is say that I enjoyed it. Thanks for explaining what a waddy was, because I would have been a little lost otherwise. Take Care, Meg

This is almost a poem of 2 halves, the beginning perhaps a little heavy on the wordy side with 'unbeknownst' and 'cavil their tinctures' (I'll have to look that up!). It settles into a nice pace though after 'Bah - Where are the days of waddys?', and there's a curious warmth and comfort about the poem after that point. It has occurred to me that this contrast is deliberate, and quite clever actually. It's a good poem Virgil, though I shiver at words like 'unbeknownst' and 'e'er' and ''neath' and other similar terms, as though someone has just made me chew cotton wool (there is no logic to this, it is one of my (many) irrationalities!).

I loved the poem. I loved the contrast and the language. I can imagine you living in the city and dreaming of the open range. I guess I think of you as a city slicker, but I suppose every boy wants to be a cowboy! I somehow think you'd go nuts in the quiet (except for the kids) at my house. But we all find ourselves standing in the chaos longing for simpler times. Would you miss restaurants, bars, shows or shopping? Around here there's McDonalds, it's a dry county so no liquor, one movie theater, and Wal-Mart.

I liked the poem Virgil, but again, I've never heard of the term waddy. I wonder if its very regionally used, I actually worked with several "cowboys" when I worked for a hunting guide in Montana. I would ride out to the trailhead, manny up a muletrain, and ride horse all day into the mountains, then set up a corral, tend the horses, make dinner and go to sleep around midnight. Wake up at 4 and take care of the horses and mules then cut firewood until 2, and ride out of the woods. We were setting up the hunting camps with provisions and firewood. Great job and no pay. Still can't figure out where waddy comes from though.

Thanks all.
B-M: I had never heard of it either but I was surfing around looking for slang and came across it. Here: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/waddy and http://www.bibble.org/western_slang.html. But other cowboy sites did not have it, so perhaps not that common.
Fifth: I agree about unbeknownest. The two halves were deliberate, form trying to suggest meaning, but I have to say I went too far with unbeknownest. I'll have to think of something else.

This was my favorite in the contest because it was different and made the picture totally different than I thought at first. I love that it wasn't about a poor starving man, but about a working man out on the range. I'm with Meg, I don't know much about the technical aspects of poetry, but I know what moves me and what I like, and I like this poem.