Janeczko, Paul B. ed. HOME ON THE RANGE: COWBOY POETRY. Pictures by Bernie Fuchs. New York: Dial Books. ISBN 0-8037-1911-6

This collection of nineteen poems by different authors can be enjoyed on their own, but they are also perfect to use in conjunction with social studies lessons on Texas. Teachers are always searching for ways to make the cowman’s life come alive, to show students that the cowboys had a variety of experiences—not just those shown in movies, to show the hardships they endured. These poems bring those experiences to life through their rich imagery.

The collection starts with the too-familiar refrain from the 1873 title poem, “Home on the Range” by Brewster Higley. The other poems are by contemporary poets who know either the beef or dairy cattle trade. They are by turns admiring, sympathetic, funny, nostalgic or sad as they focus on differing aspects of this life style. Three of the poems use traditional cowpoke dialect (hoss for horse, ya or ye for you, a-playin’ for playing, gittin’ for getting), but the rest use standard English. Ted Steagal, who was Poet Laureate for the state of Texas in 2006, penned an ode to cowboys in “Hats Off to the Cowboy:”
The cowboy’s the image of freedom, / The hard-ridin’ boss of the range. / His trade is a fair one, he fights for what’s right, / And his ethics aren’t subject to change.

There is a poem on coyotes, another on the danger of chancing upon a bear, yet another on the difference between rodeo and ranching cowboys. One poem, “Old Vogal,” deals with the demeaning view of women in this male-dominated field:
“He assured me I was lucky / That my bales were done up tight / Lucky that I caught the dew / and chanced to bale it right.”
Several describe the hardship of working unprotected from the weather. For example, “Rain on the Range:”
“When you’re ridin’ on the cattle range and hit a rainy spell, / Your whiskers git plumb mossy, and you note a mildewed smell / On everything from leather to the makin’s in your sack; / And you git the chilly quiver from the water down your back.”
Not only does this conjure up the damp, irksome cold, the rhythm of the words also reminds readers of the rhythms of the horse’s gait.

Many of the poems in this collection use similar rhyme schemes and rhythms, but not all. Some are free verse including “The Barn Cats.” It contains wonderful memories of early life with milking cows:
“How you remember dull ringing sounds / As the first squirts hit bottom; / How the sounds changed to a quiet hiss / As foaming milk filled the shiny bucket; / How the smell of fresh warm milk / Rose to mingle with the clean-cow smell; / How the barn cats sat half-circled, / Mewing politely, insisting there was enough / To fill their little pan.”

Fuch’s illustrations combine pencil drawings with oil pastels and cover from one to three pages for each poem. There is an emphasis on the brown of the dry west with purples, greens and oranges used more sparingly. They blend well with the poetry and add to the poems’ impact.

Overall, this is a collection filled with the deeply felt love of the poets for ranch and farm work. Reading their words and seeing the illustrations bring this increasingly rare life.

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