Nevada or Idaho

Post by **Yejun** » March 21st, 2009, 7:46 pm

My grandfather and I
Searched for arrowheads
And searched for blackberries
Near Mojave riverbeds,
And when the water flowed enough,
And the fish hadn't yet been fished,
We watched the water flow enough
And waited for a line tug.

By that wading line's pole,
Far from a rail depot,
I found a coin, a buffalo
Coin, smooth and oval,
And we laughed at the man
Who mentioned Nevada or Idaho
And watched the river flow well enough
To be in Nevada or Idaho.

Post by **stilltrucking** » March 22nd, 2009, 11:56 am

A very pretty poem
but please don't let me encourage you
my opinions about poetry are so uninformed.

Passed through that desert so many times but never saw the good side of it. Just the motels and truck stops on Hwy 51
But the Snake River in Idaho is beautiful even when viewed through the windshield of a truck

I wonder if it is legal to sell Navajo Blankets in Germany these days?

Post by **Arcadia** » March 22nd, 2009, 1:43 pm

stream-sensitive poem, enjoyed!!

Post by **Nazz** » March 22nd, 2009, 5:07 pm

Either one.

Though it's been my observation that rivers go to die in Nevada.
I could get some peace and quiet there and I'm fine with that.

Post by **Yejun** » March 25th, 2009, 6:11 pm

Thanks to everybody.

ST,

Okay, thanks for the lack of encouragement?

Arcadia,

Stream-sensitive. That works for me.

Nazz,

It's funny. This was loosely modeled on a Yeats poem, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Innisfree.

Many years ago, Tony Blair spoke to a joint session of Congress. There, he said something similar to "places like Nevada or Idaho. Places I've never been to but always wanted to go."

Everybody laughed.

That was the trigger for this.

Post by **justwalt** » March 25th, 2009, 9:44 pm

an open window to a part of life that few may ever enjoy

walt

____________
many is a word

Post by **goldenmyst** » March 26th, 2009, 4:06 pm

Yejun, this opens my mind's window to vistas of sweeping beauty. I've spent time in New Mexico and Arizona. Have seen Mojave and Nevada passing through. This poem takes me back where I long to be.

John

Post by **Yejun** » March 27th, 2009, 4:09 pm

Thanks.

For a poem that has been criticized for being too political, it's nice to see that there are a lot of desert fans out there.

Post by **hester_prynne** » March 27th, 2009, 9:49 pm

The best part of this beauty of a write are the last two lines.
H

Post by **saw** » March 28th, 2009, 10:46 am

there is something spiritual about the solitude of wide open spaces like the great deserts....I remember traveling through that area in the late 70's and reading the population of Nevada from my map.....

500,000 people...that was it......a state that was probably 40 times bigger than the one I drove from in Maryland, and a population less than the City of Baltimore.....it put things in perspective for me

isn't it odd that Las Vegas gets all it's water from Colorado...what's up with that ?

your poem inspires the imagination with ideas of the past fused with
the modern world...

Post by **Yejun** » April 18th, 2009, 7:18 pm

I wanted to say thanks here. I wanted to say thanks several weeks ago, but got caught up in something else.

It is always appreciated.

Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

Nevada or Idaho

Nevada or Idaho

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