The Osage Sage

another add to my poets' poet suite. Celebration of our own WB Munn

               W B Munn

 

There’s this trick of the pen, his

Plain everyday prairie scrawl

Across the white-parched pages like

Rain dimpling Oklahoma dust

 

The promise of wisdom

Wrangled from a clear-eyed persistence

To tell himself -- the stories

Of his time and kind

 

Boys on the cusp of manhood,

Men looking back -- sometimes

Regretful, or chastened

By the hardtack lessons learned

 

Along the banks of the Arkansas,

Those black-topped byways

To nowhere in particular -- 

Just life about the margins

 

Among the damned and the still

Living he’s lived amidst

And claimed as his own

Testaments to what’s worth remembering.

 

A kind man, poet

At heart, I suspect

He’s grieved over more words

Than most -- but loved too

 

More than most. The damned

And the still living

He’s lived amidst and

Claimed as his own.

 

Yes, there’s this trick of the pen,

This plain prairie gumption

To write what’s right and

Shouldn’t be forgotten

 

Of the hellbent nation

He’s loved, probably loathed  

At times, but never given up on --

Like rain returning to the Oklahoma dust.

Ken e Bujold 

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

You honour WBM with this tribute. A fine write Ken. I admire his poetic talent much in the same way I do yours. Happy new year to you.

Chris

[Ken e Bujold]

thanks Chirs. Hope yours was a great one as well

[W. Barrett Munn]

Terrific Ken. I am honored and humbled by your talent.

Winston

[Ken e Bujold]

As am I of yours. As I mentioned, re-reading your Perishables. Your ability to slice everyday life is a true gift, and my thoughts congealed around the thought, "this is not a derivative of Harrison, but the real deal." Quite happy to add this one to my collection of poems for poets I admire.

ken

[Ken Simm.]

A poem of a place and a person. Containing a tribute to both and an understanding. Excellent and touching.
And a happy New Year other Ken.

[FGFRANKLIN]

What a wonderful and endearing tribute you have written here for your friend and his work. It was a pleasure to read.