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Open Poetry #49
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The Wild West
| Open Poetry #49 |
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The Wild West |
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Redstart Senior Member
since 2014-05-16
Posts 535 |
The wild west always was to me A cactus, the mighty redwood tree John Wayne, the wily, old fox Alan Ladd standing on a box A puff of smoke from behind a boulder A bandoleer across the shoulder Rawhide, Wishbone and early Clint Wanted posters with dollar print Billy The Kid (left few alive) The slick Colt forty-five Bonanza, Hoss and Little Joe Cochise, Sitting Bull, Geronimo Distant drums, smoke signals afar Sliding whiskies down the bar Scouts ahead, wagons after Jimmy Stewart's talks with Martha Coyote, beaver, buffalo Davy Crockett, The Alamo 'Yes we will gather by the river' Eldorado, Robert Mitcham's liver Posse, sheriff, deputy Yellow ribbons, the cavalry Jesse and Frank (now there's a pair) Maureen O'Hara's flame-red hair But that was in my boyhood days As I grew up I changed my ways And I began to see the light The harried Indian and his sad plight My boyhood vision was seen through the rose-tinted glasses of childhood. The truth? A relentless, systematic crushing of a proud people and way of life that existed, as one with nature, for millenia. An inexorable backing-up into the far corners of existence. Trapped, fearful, in the headlamps of 'civilization'. All in the name of 'progress'. |
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Michael
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-13
Posts 7666California |
My great grandfather was a full blooded Cherokee chief so I was never too enamored with the old west portrayal of cowboys and Indians. Got to admit I did love Clint though.  Michael |
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latearrival Member Ascendant
since 2003-03-21
Posts 5499Florida |
Redstart,I think even as a young woman I came to the same feeling you now hold. How the boys and men loved those movies. But many took from them the sincerity of John Wayne,Garry Cooper and most of the others for the goodness and truth they also held and shared. Many young men became good men with good ethics because of all they took in from those old movies. I did not have time to sit and watch movies much but my husband grew up at the movies. Every Saturday when tickets were only a nickel to get in. He never lost that love and always went to the movies many times alone and when TV came in he had a new way to see the old movies again.Then he began copying them to tape and I have boxes of them yet in my closet. I gave so many away but more to let go of. The later ones are on CD's He joined the navy at sixteen and at 17 was on the U.S.S. Houston as a gunner. He turned 18 after the battle of Leyte. came home and I met him when he was 19 and I was 16.Even at my young age I saw and knew him to be honest, self determined and good. He and four close friends joined the services together on the same day. Not all choose the Navy but they all agreed to join up. All five of them turned out to be the best of the best. We married when he turned 20 and I a few months shy of 17. Raised a good family of six children and were together until he died of cancer after 47 good years together. I am sure they are many more like him, so I feel those old movies that were so terrible were still a part of history and with out them we may not have learned the true history of their plight. Thanks for your post. It causes one to think and reflect. Best to you, Jo |
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Redstart Senior Member
since 2014-05-16
Posts 535 |
Jo, I thank you so much for your reply; it touched me. Those old movies were not terrible, they simply did not portray the truth. One of my favourite films is: She Wore A Yellow Ribbon. History is rarely the movies, but we can still enjoy the film. Your husband was at the battle of Leyte Gulf; he would have known more than most, the difference between movies and real life. As I said, you touched me with your reply, Den x |
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Redstart Senior Member
since 2014-05-16
Posts 535 |
Michael: you are born of the earth of your country. |
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latearrival Member Ascendant
since 2003-03-21
Posts 5499Florida |
Redstart,Thank you. I sometimes think I talk too much and write too much. This is a poetry site but as I am not a poet I read and think and my fingers roll across the keys in answer. You and my Bud would have liked each other as movie buffs. But he did not like to be with anyone when he watched a movie as he did not like to talk about them either before or after.A quiet guy and a quieter man.Take care and forget the past, life starts anew each day.Jo |
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JamesMichael Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336Kapolei, Hawaii, USA |
fine writing...James |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
You make excellent points here...movies and history together are a wiley pair. I think the same could be said for all periods of time. I wonder what Romans back then would say about watching Spartacus or Ben-Hur. I must confess the wild west never made me think of Robert Mitchum's liver! :0 |
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2islander2 Member Ascendant
since 2008-03-12
Posts 6825by the sea |
hello redtart, ot was all the same for me, wild west wad first in movies on tvset, james stewart, john Wayne, john ford, but your poem admits that and go further in a very relaevant way, i can't agrre more with tje beautiful message of the poem, thanks yann |
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Carousel New Member
since 2014-06-11
Posts 4 |
I found this a very readable piece on an interesting subject. The rhyming couplets were well handled with only a few a little on the forced side. I also liked the progression of a small boy watching the silver screen heroics, where good guy always got the girl and the Bad guys fell like ninepins etc then realizing all was not as it first seemed but owed more to the old New York pulp fiction than the story of the real West, which actually was far more interesting. A good piece which I enjoyed reading. Well done. |
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