Wallowa Song

By Gaynor Dawson

Following Yesterdays Moon as the next chapter in poet Gaynor Dawsons story of growing up in the West, Wallowa Song uses rhymed verse to recount poignant and comical tales of fishing and hunting in the Pacific Northwest, rowing in the collegiate ranks at Stanford, and then returning home to raise a family and develop a cattle operation in Wallowa County, Oregon.

With vividly painted settings reflecting a reverence for the beauty of nature, Dawsons poems tell entertaining stories that trace a journey through his varied life experiences. As a child fishing for Chinook in a homemade runabout, he narrowly escaped disaster. As part of the Fearsome Foursome, he rowed to victory time and time again. As a struggling rancher who either had to make or make do, he transported a cow in the back of a Chevy Suburbanmuch to the dismay of a state trooper.

Wallowa Song continues the poetic reflections of a common man with an uncommon talent for seeing the world through the eyes of a poet.

Praise for Yesterdays Moon, by Gaynor Dawson
Ever faithful to the cowboy-poet ethic, Dawson never strays from the land and the cattle-rancher lifestyle that he so clearly loves. [His] earnest, refreshing collection will appeal to anyone not afraid to have fun with poetry.
Kirkus Reviews

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491711125

Gaynor Dawson

Gaynor Dawson is a consulting environmental engineer whose career has taken him on a multi-faceted journey of discovery. This work builds on his first book, Yesterday’s Moon. Dawson divides his time between his home in Washington State, and his cattle ranch in Wallowa County, where hard work and glorious scenery provide never-ending fulfillment.

Book preview

A Lesson in Humility

Hubris expects a cavalcade of drums

Announcing the time when the Reaper comes.

He harvests so many, and you’re just one,

Perhaps a dim star but not the bright sun.

You should prepare for your appointed time

By firmly affixing within your mind

The notion that death comes on quietly

To mice in the field and fish in the sea.

Let the trumpets blare and the cannons roar

Once you see what lies on the other shore.

You may land in triumph or with regret;

The outcome’s uncertain; you’re not there yet.

But your odds improve for a better ride

With more humility and far less pride.

A Pint of Something Strong

On the days when you’re mistaken,

Thinking nothing more could go wrong,

The secret for your survival

Lies in a pint of something strong.

If you think that I’m misguided—

If you believe it just can’t be—

Then listen closely to this tale

And see if you don’t agree.

It started early one morning

With a visit from Darby Grimm,

Who, it seems, got into his head

That there was money owed to him.

He told me that on Friday last

Despite what some others might say

We came within a wee pitcher

Of setting the record that day.

Had we emptied just one more glass,

All our drinks would have been for free.

But we faltered right at the end,

So a fortune was owed by me.

Come now, Darby, I says to him,

"Surely ’ it’s a fabrication.

You know I’ve changed my ways of late

And drink but in moderation."

"There’re times when it seems I’m lucky

If I can remember my name,

But sure even I would recall

Such a fine flirtation with fame.

I can but conclude from all this

Drinking’s damaged your mind some more.

No doubt you was drinking with Jock,"

And at that point I shut the door.

If the front door was a hard place,

The back door was surely a rock,

For waiting out on the back step

I found Darby’s twin brother, Jock.

He’d never been all that handsome;

Nor was he a total disgrace

Except on that fine morning

With bruises all over his face.

Jock, says I, "what’s happened to you?

Your face looks like you lost a fight."

You’d be the one to know, says he,

"Since you did this last Friday night.

You was raging drunk and asked me

If I’d finally tied the knot

With that beautiful lass Kathleen

Who lives on the neighboring