If you hunted birds
With your son
Over pointing dogs
You bred and raised
Your son did too
And built that bond
Where the dogs are the glue
And a point binds all generations
First, middle and last Read more
If
Category: Poetry
Happiest Days
My happiest days
Were spent horseback
Riding at field trials
Watching dogs explore
For coveys of quail
Or sharp tails or Huns
In wire grass or prairie grass
Wheat stubble or weeds
Watching them freeze
Stand rigid and tall
Waiting for handler
To get there to flush
Then watered and released
To stretch out for the front
To find more to point
At the end of a cast
From first breakaway
To the end of the day
Looking for the one
That lays down the great race Read more
Drive at Dawn through Tidewater Farms
I drove at dawn today West through Virginia’s Tidewater counties Soil sandy, flat and fertile British names Suffolk (now a city, used to be Nansemond County) Isle of Wight Southampton Sussex Harvest time has come at last Peanuts dug and in windrows drying Waiting for the combine Farmers fearing rain or freeze or both That renders the precious nut worthless Corn this year grew wonderfully From planting to maturity Most Read more
Two Scout Adventure
The heat ended with
Both dogs unseen
The senior judge said,
“Time’s up, you got twenty minutes”
The scouts on the flanks
Cantered ahead
To search for their dogs
Pointed they hoped Read more
Gallery
They drift over, sleepy eyed,
One by one, from headquarters
Frost coats the wiregrass
Glistening in the low sun
We will ride west, thank God
Here comes head marshal, Slade
Manages Chinquapin, born cross the road
Before him was Joe
Before him Wallace Read more
A Simple Life
When I was young
And saw how much
My father loved our little farm
I formed the wish
To farm there always for my living
Then he died
When I was fifteen
Net worth $29,000
My mom and I soldiered on
For seven years more
Farming just as he had Read more
Last Brace
Well, he’d not a place
Now down to last brace
Hadn’t paid entry fees
Couldn’t, less this one got one of three
He was desperate
More than that
Out of place Read more
The Hole
Every dog has got a hole
The old wisdom says
How to work round it
Every handler’s test
Won’t back
Circles back
Head trails
Tail trails Read more
A Prayer for Bird Dogs
Oh Lord, I pray
Prairie training and trials
Will not go away
For genetics show
It takes the strongest
To breed on Read more
The Joy of the Hunt
Some hunt to watch the bird fall
The wise hunt to see the bird fly
After pointed by a bird dog of one’s own
Or of a competitor or of a friend
Therein lies the true joy of the hunt Read more