[ Home --> Navigational Links (Contents) --> A Cowboy Poetry Gathering ] Byrd Woodward -- Ol' Bill Jones
This is dedicated to a poet I admire, Bill Jones….he’s pretty well known and tickles my funny bone! He wrote ‘Lover, Fighter, Wild Horse Rider’, ‘Roundup at the Bar B Bar’ and ‘Answered Prayer’ among others…I was reading these three, published in Warren Miller’s collection of modern poetry, ‘Cattle Horses, Sky and Grass’, when this just jumped into my mind. Sing it to the tune of ‘I Ride an Old Paint’. Bill’s got at least three books out and a fourth written with Rod McQueary regarding their Viet Nam experiences. Anyone not familiar with this fine poet, should please make his acquaintance as soon as possible!
Write around ‘em, Bill Jones,
Write around ‘em real good…
Yer cowboy rhymin’ is well understood.
Ol’ Bill Jones wrangles words, y’all know,
He’s writ fer th’ V Dot way out in Idaho…
His wit an’ his meter flow out mighty fine,
He’ll tickle yer funny bone time after time.
Write around at th’ gath’rin’
Write around real slow;
Ol’ Bill Jones is a-rarin’ t’ go.
When Ol’ Bill Jones gits a mike in his hand,
It’ll take a cow prod t’ move him off th’ stand…
His heels plow ruts an’ rear end’s a-draggin’,
They’ll neck him up tight to Cookie’s chuck wagon.
It’s Elko in th’ winter,
It’s Prescott in th’ fall…
Bill tells his tales, both short ones an’ tall.
His pomes is in print almost everwhere ya’ look,
Him an’ McQueary’s made up their own book…
Circle ‘round him in Alpine, gather up in Cheyenne,
He’ll recite his pomes wherever he can.
You’ll find him in Lander,
Wyoming on his spread,
He’ll be punchin’ an’ proddin’ them words in his head.
Bill’s laptop’s named Paint,
An’ he rhymes that with cain’t…
Some days it’s easy an’ others it ain’t.
He rocks in th’ saddle from mornin’ ‘til night
An’ wrangles them words ‘til they bunch up real tight.
Rhyme around ‘Ol Billy,
Rhyme around jist fine,
Keep on a-peckin’ ‘til ya find th’ right line.
Byrd Woodward was born on a cow ranch in Idaho along the Payette
River in 1937. She’s been away from that life for many years though she
and her husband Woody always managed to keep a rural lifestyle and
usually had chickens, horses and dogs for the kids. She’s written poetry
since she could write and her mother tells her that she was singing rhymes
to the barn kittens before that. She writes about the things she remembers
and the things that shaped her life, the people and events that made
her the person she is today.
She and her husband retired to Arizona from Washington State and she
works part time at the Sharlot Hall Historical Museum in Prescott where
the Arizona State Cowboy Poets Gathering is held. She has been invited to
the Cowboy Poetry Rodeo in Kanab Utah in August, 2002. Her poetry is also available on cowboypoetry.com.
Jane Morton has written two books, “A Beef, a Branding, and a Bull” and “Poems of the Ranch.” You can order them for $5.00 each from: Jane Morton 12710 Abert Way, Colorado Springs, CO 80908.
Jane’s poems can also be found at cowboypoetry.com.
