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Author Archives: Jim Stewart
A Prairie Prayer
We moved his body to the rafters of the tack shed this morning. His woman, his mate, his best friend, will keep what is left of him alive as best she can. She is listening for You and seeks solace … Continue reading
Posted in American history, cowboy poetry, prayer, Slice of Death, Slice of Life
Tagged American prairie, death, farming, frozen ground, history, prayer, wheat, winter
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Personal Transport (for Robert Frost)
A steaming sip of fragrant tea rouses mornings wrapped in fog, walking beside the plumed dog across a plain of memories, calling the names of old acquaintances, some deceased, somehow puts my heart at ease and draws me back into … Continue reading
Posted in Poem, Reprint, Slice of Life
Tagged dogs, fog, outdoors, poem, Robert Frost, tribute, walking
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Dream of Seashell Water
You chase her with long strides up a series of ramps. You hear her laugh as she stays ahead. She giggles when she changes directions onto another ramp, behind you, leading ninety degrees away. You retrace a few steps and … Continue reading
Furniture Marches On
You lie face down in a big bed and wonder how you can breathe with a pillow clamped around your face. Your mouth tastes of feathers and you smell your own acrid drool. You jump at her voice when she … Continue reading
Posted in Absurd fantasy, Dream, Poem
Tagged absurdity, break-up, dreaming, humor, relationship, separation
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Waiting Just to Play
I’ve given all my life to play a rounded wooden box that measures what I’ve gained and burns up what I’ve lost. Quiet house at the edge of dawn: the moon scrubs clean the windows and the cats stay busy … Continue reading
Posted in Music, Poem, Slice of Life
Tagged cats, guitar, music, musician, nightlife, performing, rock and roll
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Home, Townes
I wrote this on a night in 1997 when a good pal called me and told me that Townes Van Zandt had moved onto another dimension. Goodbye, you old rounder. I’ll miss your gaunt sad voice singing of the … Continue reading
Posted in Music, Poem, Reprint
Tagged hard living, memorium, poem, songwriter, Townes Van Zandt, troubadour
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Too Damn Dumb
He gave up in late nineteen sixty-three with the death of a young president still firmly caught on a fence in his mind where the wind fans desire to intent. The other hands tried to console him, but they offered … Continue reading
Posted in cowboy poetry, Lyrics, Poem
Tagged aging, cowboy, JFK, love story, lyrics, poetry
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An Ashram at Wishram
Notes scatter from the bell at the top of the door. She looks up from her book to see him cowed as if the notes were shards of glass and he a hemophiliac. “Close the door,” she smiles and closes … Continue reading
The Actress and the Grunion
She was an actress and even though I heard Wales in her voice she was as American as French-fries. I’d seen her in a play where she bested the writing to make me laugh. I lived two doors downhill to … Continue reading
Narble Furt Lives 