Best Hereford Poems

"I've rode the range now fer nigh on sixty years,
Brandin' dogies and ropin' them wily Hereford steers.
When I come to the end of the trail, I don't want no big scenes.
Boys, jes' wrap me in my hoss's blanket and bury me in my jeans!"

"I don't...

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Great Grandpa Zerbst, I wish was here
I'd like him still around
He had a herd of Hereford cows
His farmin' sense was sound

He passed away when I was young
I'd only seen him twice
But even though his life was rough
I'm sure that he was nice

At first, he had...

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Ridin' down into the canyon
Looking for some strays
I chanced to think about
The passing of the days.

Been chasing after cattle
Seems a mighty long time
And all those days I ain't be able
To save so much as a dime.

Never thought I'd get rich
Hiring out with herds
But cowboyin' and...

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Who will buy my lovely oranges
I am a whore in the bed of Charles II
Nell Gwynn is my name from Hereford I come
Beauty I have money have none.

Acting is my forte yet I must wait my turn
The stage is a busy place, I first must...

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The Tragic Story of Rosamund Clifford

By some urge to learn more, beckoned,
I read up the life of Henry the Second.
With Thomas Becket he picked  a bone.
This well known fact I'll leave alone.

Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine
became his wife and brought much gain,
but in one matter...

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Willow Around About: Upon the cutting of a willow tree on a traffic roundabout in Hereford 2016.


The Willow weeped for the loss of her City
Proud City, rural trading City
The World and his wife had beaten a track
For the cattle, sold at auction
Bartered in pubs, paraded...

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Squared shoulders sporting a feathered hat,
She sure-stepp’d through the mud without slippage.
Caring not a whit that she stopped both
Horse carriage and his beating heart.  Disdain
Enhanced her beauty, this goddess of
Dowlais, coal-miner’s daughter, as smitten
Young Englishman gap’d, “There goes the proudest
Young woman ever.  She...

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James has been to three Paralympics, 
Including Rio, and in 2012 in London, 
He won a bronze in the mixed sticks, 
Of the 10 metre air rifle SH2 prone.

He qualified for that final with a max, 
Of 600 points, but the final was tough, 
So...

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Straight moves the locomotive train miles
Traveling over desert flatland forging ahead,
Coal steam engine Number 9 chug, chug, chug,
Sound waves rolls through, satisfying sensation is said.
Locomotive whistle sounds station steam rolling in,
Little one hears repeats ‘choo-choo’ rolls to stop,
All aboard!  Rolls locomotion moving, snack on...

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Can I say this is a Friesian,
that one a Hereford?
I lived so long in a town
and can say I have forgotten
my recollection as I wander in streets
among cars and bikes.

And yet am I so much missing
beings with four legs,
and those hooves that clomp
when stomping in...

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Like water…
fear seeks its own level
Rich or poor
it wades through our consciousness
Driving us inward
toward sirens of darkness
Shrilling the moment
—with lyres of doubt 

(Hereford Inlet: December, 2021)...

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'Creak creak' says
The old rocking chair
On a tiny old wooden porch
'Aawk aawk' says
The old crow as it
Flies steadily to the north
'Cock-a-doodle-do' says
The red rooster as he clucks
The new day in at half past four
Arise! Coffee's brewing
eggs and bacon on the stove
Hurry! Grab your baskets
Time for...

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Raising thoughts and emotion,
the mainsail was set

Heading into the wind
of tomorrow unmet

All stays are in place,
with tiller held fast

Reaching for glory
—the doldrums have passed

(Hereford Inlet: November, 2020)...

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At Lough Allua, along the waterfront
One observes a turning of the tide
From river stones, which stay blunt
Are nature’s creatures, who needn’t hide

A little toad searches for anew
Commencing a journey made by few
Its passage, grows so weary
Following the gravel track
On its way to Ballingeary

High ditches cloak...

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