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Poetry Canadian

Homegrown and other poems

by (author) Bryce Burnett

edited by Deana Driver

Publisher
DriverWorks Ink
Initial publish date
Apr 2014
Category
Canadian
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781927570081
    Publish Date
    Apr 2014
    List Price
    $19.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Growing up ‘in ranching ways’ on the Prairies of southwest Saskatchewan, Bryce Burnett has put his pen to paper to proudly celebrate his heritage and the lifestyle he loves. Burnett’s cowboy poetry recollects his memories of homesteaders and characters in his region, as well as the animals and natural wonders that have affected him daily. Community events and family meals, trips to town and Sunday worship services, cattle encounters and the beauty of the fields, births and deaths, rodeos, cattle shows, and fishing trips all play a role in the life of a rancher. Burnett captures them all in his own style, often with a dash of humour.

About the authors

Awards

  • Commended, Honorable Mention, Poetry, Great Midwest Book Festival

Contributor Notes

Bryce Burnett is a rancher, cowboy poet and entertainer from southwest of Swift Current, Saskatchewan. He and his wife Wanda, daughter Wadena, son Wyatt and daughter-in-law Chelsey operate Burnett Angus and Tarentaise, raising purebred and commercial cattle.

Bryce obtained his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in 1972 at the University of Saskatchewan, although some say he hides it well. He is more at home working with cattle and checking crops than punching a computer keyboard.
Bryce has always had a fondness for the great outdoors.

He has performed at cowboy poetry gatherings throughout Western Canada and into the United States, and as an entertainer for livestock events, banquets and social functions. He has entertained at Canadian Western Agribition, Calgary Stampede and Rodeo, and the National Western Stock Show. His writings, stories and poetry are authentic to the life he lives on the ranch and depict so-called acquaintances who have inspired him.

Excerpt: Homegrown and other poems (by (author) Bryce Burnett; edited by Deana Driver)

The Rock

I picked up a rock in the field the other day, and held it in the palm of my hand.
It was an Indian hammer head created by someone who before us roamed this land.
I wondered how it came to be abandoned there and whose hand had cradled it before I.
And I imagined what it had been used for and how many critters had passed it by.
Then I wondered how many hundreds of years it had laid there, or maybe a thousand or two.
And what did the fellow look like who lost it; did he resemble me or maybe you?
Then I noticed on my machine a tillage shovel was missing; I’d lost it in the field that day.
I knew I’d never find it; it was smothered with soil, abandoned somewhere it lay.
Then I wondered in a couple of hundred years or maybe a thousand or two,
Whose hand might reach down and pick it up; would he resemble me or maybe you?
And would he wonder how it came to be abandoned there and what the fellow was doing who lost it that day?
Would he imagine what it was used for, and why in the heck did they till the soil in this part of the world anyway?

Editorial Reviews

"In Bryce Burnett’s collection of cowboy poetry, Homegrown, readers will discover lively and intelligent poems that reminisce on country life from the turn-of-the-century to the present day. Bryce Burnett demonstrates that he is a master raconteur, spinning narratives of wit and turning conventional wisdom on its head."

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