Opening Day
On your way
With your bird dogs
It’s the best life can be
Another season you’ve made
To go forth behind them
As they surge before you
Seeking scent on the breeze Read more
Opening Day
Category: Poetry
Abandoned Churches of North Dakota
Have you driven North Dakota
Seen the churches long abandoned
Standing unpainted off the highways
Still standing tall as when erected by Homesteaders
Just off ships from Norway, Sweden, Germany?
Families hauled here by the railroads
The Great Northern and the Soo Line
In their immigrant cars filled with
Man, wife, children, team, cow, shoat, ewe and goose Read more
No Thrill
There is no thrill so fine
As to release a derby you
Have bred and raised from a pup
In its first field trial stake
Watch it cast to the front
Hunt in yonder to a ridge
Turn to see you here behind
Then cast on in glee to find
Birds to point and hold —
For an instant
Then as fall falls away
Into winter as it grows
Into a muscled real bird dog
And stays longer at its finds
Lets you walk in front to flush
Finally watches birds fly away
Stays put to get your praise
Earned by learning what you want
How long will it take
You never know until it’s done
But when it is you can take pride
In your journey with your pup
Read more
No Chance
I was sitting on a bar stool
In a dark beer joint
With a long neck Bud
And a pickled pig's foot
I was alone
Nursin' a grudge
'Gainst a field trial judge
Just throwed out my dog
For flaggin' on point
Read more
Why Field Trials Matter
They need us
We need them
Dogs and humans
Mutually depend
We bond for sure
And no types more
Than bird dogs
And bird dog folk Read more
A Few of Means
A few men and women of means
Kept all-age field trials alive
Through depressions recessions and wars
Helped by trainers in love with the game
Since 1874 Read more
Old Handler’s Prayer
Oh, please give me a puppy
Can cast to the rim
Of the biggest pasture
In South Alabama
Oh, please give me a derby
Will go to the limits
Of its hearing
Then come back alookin’ for me Read more
Smells We Don’t Forget
There are smells from childhood
We remember into old age
A favorite of mine is from age six
When I sat on my father’s lap
Behind Maud and Bird
Our team of Belgian mares Read more
If You Care Too Much
If you care too much
That the bird falls dead
You’ve missed the point
Of the hunt my friend
It’s not about
What’s in your bag
Or hard shots made
On which you’ll brag
Read more
Turn ‘em Loose
The senior judge
Six feet four
Sits astride his mount
Watches two black scouts
Lead up two pointers
Kneel beside them
Stroke their backs
Whisper in their ears Read more