Country Boy
Hair wild as a hedgehog, my kid brother Benny
spins over the landscape just like a lost penny.
Brown as a gingersnap baked by the sun,
he cannot be stopped ‘til he wants to be done.
No iced tea can lure him, for he’d rather sip
from a cold rushing river and then take a dip,
roll in the tall grass until he is dry,
then turn on his back to look up at the sky
at eagles and swallows and dragonfly wings
and flop over again to watch earthier things.
No hearthstone can rival the lure of outside.
He will jump on his pony and take a long ride
to fill up his day with natural pleasures,
stuffing his saddlebag with priceless treasures––
arrowheads, fossils and bottles whose glass
has turned purple from years in the sun and the grass.
Who can explain a country boy’s mind?
Such pleasures cannot be explained or defined.
Just leave him alone, for there’ll be time enough
to smooth all those edges the world may call rough.
For now, he’s a nature boy, unique and wild,
giving birth to the man that will grow from the child.
Christine Goodnough sent me the above prompt words and since I’m incapable of turning down a challenge, this was the result. The poem didn’t start out being about my dad but somewhere in the middle, I realized perhaps it was. This is a photo of him at age 13 on the homestead that he grew up on. He moved into town when he married my mom, but farmed and ranched the homestead plus land he later acquired until he sold the ranch after I graduated from high school.
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
Wow! Good job with a (hehe) rather difficult prompt list. I’ve been prodding my muse all evening and something is taking shape, but it’s going to be a lot longer. 🙂
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Fantastic writing Judy.
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Judy I love this poem in every way. It should become a classic. It tells a great story in every way, the diction and cadence is perfect, the story nostalgic. In one short poem, you wrote a whole book~! I saw your memory of your dad in it about the third line. What a great way to remember him and also tell us about our selves. This one goes in my keeper file, in a place where I can read it again and again, you batted 1000~!
SAM
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POSTED PHOTOS I TOOK TODAY BETWEEN RAIN STORMS. You can see them under “MEXICAN ART”. Only a few near the house~!
On Wed, Jun 2, 2021 at 11:18 PM lifelessons – a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown wrote:
> lifelessons posted: ” Country Boy Hair wild as a hedgehog, my kid brother > Benny spins over the landscape just like a lost penny. Brown as a > gingersnap baked by the sun, he cannot be stopped ‘til he wants to be done. > No iced tea can lure him, for he’d rather sip ” >
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Okay.. saw them and commented. I usually don’t check my notifications until late afternoon but made an exception in this case.. still have not even posted which I usually do the minute I wake up. I had an early delivery and got distracted refiling hundreds of files in my newly repaired and returned file cabinet. Perhaps a paper shredder would have been a better choice. i cannot throw away paper with stuff written on it.. One of my failings.
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How wonderful that the prompt word brought you this story about your father in his youngster days. I enjoyed it very much!
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When I started out it was a fictional brother as I don’t have any brothers, but when It came time to illustrate it, the only photo I could find was one of my dad at age 13 and I realized it could fit him as well. I tried taking out the brother and adding long-ago Benny (My dad’s name really was Ben) but didn’t like the sound of it, so I guess it must be written from the POV of his big sister Stella. Ha.
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I suppose what really matters is the memories and images that come to you as you write – even if somewhat fanciful.
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You are exactly write. I love the writing process. My favorite time of the day.
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