Crisp and black with cold, dry ash,You cover yourselves with green,Awakened to life by rain and sun,You thrive in the breezes of spring.Days grow long, the south wind blows;Your green now changes, too—First more vibrant, then more soft,And then to a golden hue.A gentler sun ripens your goldTo copper and rich red rust;Heat gives way…
Tag: Poetry
Johnny Kaw: A Tall Tale
He was born on a night when a stormy wind blew; Five minutes old, already six feet two. Thus begins the story of Kansas’s own legendary hero and Paul Bunyan figure, Johnny Kaw. Johnny Kaw: A Tall Tale by Devin Scillian presents the story in a format that children will love—playful verse accompanied by hilarious…
2018 Reading Challenge: Kansas
A new year—a new reading challenge! This year, Kansas is the theme. To complete the challenge, you must read 12 Kansas-related books by the end of 2018: A book about Kansas prior to 1854. A book about Kansas flora. A fictional book written by a Kansas author. A book about territorial Kansas. A book about…
Introducing Cowboy Poetry
The early cowboys seem to have been artists at heart. Every aspect of their daily lives seems to have made it into verse, from their love of nature to their battles with wild horses to their prosaic bacon-and-beans diet. Many of the first cowboy poems were song lyrics. Thus, this poetic style shares the same…
The Kansas Poems of John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier was probably best known for his book-length poem Snowbound, but as a Quaker he was also an ardent abolitionist, even taking an active hand in political lobbying for the cause at one point. When the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 plunged the entire nation into a debate on slavery and the respective roles…
