Last night, during the first performance of the 30th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, Waddie Mitchell debuted the poem he wrote in celebration of the state’s 150th anniversary of statehood. A native Nevadan, Mitchell was named the Honorary Poet of the Silver State’s Sesquicentennial. Below is an excerpt from last night and the full poem further down the page.
by Waddie Mitchell
There’s a basin, wrought of reason,
tortoise dry and clean of air
Where rivers hike to meet their fate,
get lost and disappear
Where Grand Adventure had a say
and different would prevail
And where only hardy life hangs on
to all the it entails
Where hidden hints of Eden
are revealed to those who seek
And where Bristlecone stand sentinel
from high atop her peaks
Where the Shoshone and the Paiute
and the Washo stories tell;
If we but live within Her wishes,
we will prosper and live well
Deemed and destined Dame Nevada,
cloaked in sage and sunset crowned
Making sense and friends and legends,
turning prudence upside down
She eludes to and may prove to be enigma in disguise
Dealing wisdom and compassion,
still, refusing compromise
She’s the rugged scent of essence
and immense in scope and feel
Mountainous and rightly stubborn,
cold and sensuous and real
Open minded and closed fisted
and diverse in all she’s of
And, as tight with her resources
as she’s liberal with her love
And She settled hardy settlers,
and She dished prospectors ore
And She was booming as the U.S.
fought it’s most un-Civil War
And when there’s have and needed
bureaucratic tape gets cleared
So, She’s flown the flat of statehood now, one hundred fifty years
And as stewards of Her masterpiece,
the standards been set high,
Be protective and responsive to Her needs and feed Her pride
And as Nevadans, we should not forget what native stories tell;
If we but live within her wishes, we will prosper and live well.
2014 All Rights Reserved
