Thought experiment, you’re right, Doug. I meant there would still be cattle
stampedes and all those other western tropes but you need horses. The line
OK there’d still be corrals (again for cattle) was supposed to reference
the OK Corral but it’s a bit clumsy.
War movies, you’re right, could also be included, All Quiet springing to
mind.
Bill
On Thu, 8 Mar 2018 at 3:02 am, Douglas Barbour <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I dont know Bill, I get it, but just who stampedes in that penultimate
> stanza…?
>
> Poem as thought experiment, ignoring historical war movies, for example…?
>
> Doug
>
> > On Mar 7, 2018, at 5:01 AM, Bill Wootton <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> >
> > Some hurt, Patrick. Les Murray, Australian poet said something like
> ‘Poetry
> > is easy. You just take off your head, boil it up on the stove for hours,
> > then put it back on before you go to bed.’
> >
> > Bill
> >
> > On Wed, 7 Mar 2018 at 10:52 pm, Patrick McManus <
> > [log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> >> like 'no poets were hurt making this anthology'
> >>
> >>
> >> On 07/03/2018 11:15, [log in to unmask] wrote:
> >>> Like it Bill but you forgot where they have to pretend to die. No
> >>> animals were hurt in the making of this film?
> >>>
> >>> John
> >>>
> >>>> ----Original Message----
> >>>> From: [log in to unmask]
> >>>> Date: 06/03/2018 23:56
> >>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> >>>> Subj: Horses
> >>>>
> >>>> Have no say
> >>>>
> >>>> in whether they want
> >>>>
> >>>> to appear in Westerns.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Directors, actors, stuntmen
> >>>>
> >>>> - and women - do.
> >>>>
> >>>> It’s up to them. But horses -
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Think flooded river crossings,
> >>>>
> >>>> hauling laden wagons,
> >>>>
> >>>> full tilt range riding
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Up and down mountains
> >>>>
> >>>> of shifting stones. Horses,
> >>>>
> >>>> called to plough on
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> in all weathers,
> >>>>
> >>>> accepting with alacrity,
> >>>>
> >>>> sounds of shootouts,
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> roped into collapsing
> >>>>
> >>>> under cowboy weight,
> >>>>
> >>>> falling from great heights
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> into raging rivers,
> >>>>
> >>>> onto dusty prairies,
> >>>>
> >>>> or snowy plains.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Whipped by stage drivers,
> >>>>
> >>>> urged into burning saloons,
> >>>>
> >>>> crashing through windows.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> But without horses: pals,
> >>>>
> >>>> confidantes, muscled movers,
> >>>>
> >>>> where would your Western be?
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> OK, there’d still be corrals, stampedes,
> >>>>
> >>>> batwing-doored saloons, robbed banks,
> >>>>
> >>>> six shooters, main street gunfights.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> But somewhere, tension must gallop.
> >>>>
> >>>> Horses, salute them.
> >>>>
> >>>> Hi Ho Silver!
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> bw
> >>>>
> >>
>
> Douglas Barbour
> [log in to unmask]
> https://eclecticruckus.wordpress.com/
>
> Recent publications: (With Sheila E Murphy) Continuations & Continuations
> 2 (UofAPress).
> Recording Dates (Rubicon Press).
> Listen. If (UofAPress):
>
>
>
> the way of what fell
> the lies
> like the petals
> falling drop
> delicately
>
> Phyllis Webb
>
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