Poetry

End of the Season

March 4, 2022 | Field Trials, Poetry | Comments

Another season ending The quail pairing off Dogs and horses road weary Handlers and scouts wore out They’ve been on the road Since August Starting up north Hauling dogs and horses To new grounds week by week Read more

February Oaks

February 27, 2022 | Poetry | Comments

In February oaks I seek When I am feeling old and weak In groves they lift bare limbs to pray To celebrate a cold clear day Alone they spread strong branches wide In symmetry on every side Winds shake last acorns to the ground By birds and mammals to be found Turkey grouse and bobwhite quail Deer squirrel and mouse on them prevail I will endure oaks say to me Read more

What’s a Field Trial?

February 25, 2022 | Field Trials, Poetry | Comments

When you get asked that At a cocktail party Or a Bar-B-Q You can never explain No matter how hard you try Read more

What Happened

February 21, 2022 | Poetry | Comments

What happened This year at the Ames Plantation? Was it bad birds Bad weather Bad feed? Read more

In Defense of Sharecropping

| Poetry | Comments

Since Reconstruction Sharecropping Has had a bad wrap Landlords branded ogres Tenants victims Read more

Turning Her Loose

February 19, 2022 | National Championship, Poetry | Comments

You’re at Ames Finally You’ve been trying For years She won two Firsts of an hour To get here Let ‘em go Read more

The National — As Seen By A Handler

February 14, 2022 | National Championship, Poetry | Comments

Here we go Three hours down Please birds move Come out of the woods If you stay put Where you roosted In that stick stuff My dog won’t point you Read more

Going to Ames

February 10, 2022 | National Championship, Poetry | Comments

So your dog is qualified And you’re going to Grand Junction To run in The National Championship The one and only To run on the Ames Plantation Where for a century and a quarter The continent’s best bird dog has been yearly crowned And where bird dog stories true and fiction abound Read more

The Boys of the Road

February 1, 2022 | Field Trials, Poetry | Comments

The boys of the road Follow a circuit That starts way up north As summer is ending They’ve been up there Since mid July Training young bird dogs And young riding horses Read more

Chinquapin Immortals

January 24, 2022 | Florida Open All-Age Championship, Poetry | Comments

I reflect on Chinquapin After twenty-seven Florida Championships Reported there From 1995 through 2022 A piece of earth crafted From lime-rock and sand Covered in wire grass Jack oaks and sparse pines Sculpted uneven by The Master With an all-age bird dog in mind Its courses laid out in 1969 By Fred Arant nickname Goochy Since then it has served As a place to hunt quail And for a week Read more