Long Hoosier Poems

A Fugitive
Bus Stop Overland Park, Kansas   7:35 PM

A furrowed brow and furtive eyes
that refuse to engage another,
striding quickly through the crowd
and putting people between him
and the police car.
He is hardly the drifter or...

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Inland Empire Prairie Corn Garden of the West Land of Lincoln                        ...

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I have many fond memories growin' up on the farm as a boy.
Such simple pleasures in times more sublime brought me great joy!
I knowed it was summer when in June Dad bought me a straw...

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I've traveled this celestial ball visiting many places of beauty and renown.
My world travels are over, but there is many an American city and town,
That I really pine to visit before I cease to function...

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They're known by many names - taters, potatos, pertaters and spuds.
As a Hoosier lad I toiled hoein' taters and flickin' bugs off their buds!
So I was very well qualified when I entered the service, by...

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I was a mere lad of fourteen way back in June of nineteen forty-four.
I recall so well the Sixth of June when brave men stormed Normandy's Shore!
They were called 'news bulletins' in those days that...

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Sixty-Six years ago today a very naïve farm-boy left the Hoosier farm,
To seek adventure beyond the horizon since farming had lost its charm.
He enlisted in the Air Force, a knight in blue to keep the...

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O'er the undulating prairie where grows soy beans and corn,
Generations of premier basketball players have been born.
The Hoosier State of Indiana, where budding talent is so replete,
Where small towns can conquer titans, shocking them in...

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Private O'Toole was only eighteen when he marched off to war.
He glanced back to see his tearful Mother standing in the door.
Across the way he heard the mournful wail of the midnight train,
Waiting to hasten...

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The young and eager parson had completed his seminary education.
He girded his loins to battle sin and lead the wayward to salvation!
The pastoral selection committee after a long and deliberate search,
Invited him to pastor at...

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In 1890, cowboy Bob Womack found gold at the base of lofty Pikes Peak!
In short order a ramshackle town was founded called Cripple Creek.
Hordes of gamblers, 'soiled doves' and prospectors hopin' to make a buck,
Heeded...

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I was a mere lad of ten living on a prairie farm in Hoosier land,
Roaming the fields in my old straw hat, barefoot, carefree and tanned.
My faithful dog, Spooks, was always with me chasing rabbits,
(And...

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I see by the news that they may level a bit of Americana.
Alas, 'tis that old icon, the railroad depot in Richmond, Indiana.
I have many fond and not so fond memories of that old place.
Unless...

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There are so many memories of Hoosier farm life that I remember,
But one in particular I recall occured each cold and drear November.
Dad would proclaim, "The old boar has reached his maximum weight!"
That meant the...

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Growin' up on the Hoosier farm, Mom fixed very simple chuck.
(We'd never heard of pate de fois gras or crispy Peking duck!)
But never mind such sophisticated and fanciful cuisines.
I'd much prefer a steamin' bowl of...

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'Tis glorious springtime agin in Wayne County, Indiana!
(Never mind that a blizzard jes' blew in frum Montana!)
Folks wuz beginnin' to till their gardens to plant pertaters,
And wuz bustin' clods to set out plants uv beefsteak...

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'Tis the farm boy in me yet, but I like to see things a-growin',
('Cept pesky weeds of course and the grass that needs a-mowin'!)
As a lad on the farm, tho', I had a very different...

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Today as I sauntered 'mongst the relics in the antique store,
My gaze was directed to an old Philco radio standing on the floor.
As I caressed its somewhat scratched and dappled finish,
Pleasant memories flooded my soul...

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Another summer day has ended, the sun slowly sinks in the west.
The western sky a colorful hue, surely God's artistry at its best!
The radiant moon begins its bourne, lighting the eastern sky,
The ebon sky reveals...

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Ma issued a decree that Pa received with very little ardor:
"A vegetable garden is needed to supplement our meager larder!"
Pa would rather spend his leisure time snoozing on the couch,
But he allowed he'd better get...

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Hoosier winters were mighty frigid on the farm when I was a lad.
Ma insisted no matter what I did, I was to be warmly clad!
With toboggan cap, mackinaw, mittens and lace-up leather boots,
And of course...

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Grandpa was a jolly fellow so talented and so wise.
He could plant a row of corn as straight as the arrow flies!
He was a very handy carpenter never once hitting his thumb, 
And he built...

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Like his fathers before him, he was a tiller of the soil.
He loved the old farmstead that was built with sweat and toil.
He farmed with Clydesdale horse and cantankerous mules,
A sickle bladed mower, sulky plows...

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I suppose it is surprising
And I shouldn't let you know it,
I've a hankering for the poetry
Of that old time Hoosier poet.
Perhaps you think his poems with
Their easy, rustic flavor
Are not poetic offerings
Sophisticates would savor.
"Little Orphant...

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Small town grocery stores nowadays are very rare indeed,
But in simpler times they supplied a family's every need.
As a Hoosier lad, I worked in Mr L B Owen's Grocery Store,
In charge of absolutely nothing, but...

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