Still Flower-Fed

Custer State Park, in South Dakota's Black Hills, is home to a managed wild buffalo herd of approximately 1,500 head. Rounding a bend just off the Wildlife Loop, we saw this bull grazing.

Once these creatures roamed the plains by the hundreds of thousands. From 1800-1900, commercial hunting took its toll until the herds were nearly gone. Fortunately, a few men had foresight to save and raise some calves from the wild herds. Their descendents live in Custer State Park today.

Also known as American bison, these animals can run 35 mph and can jump 6 feet in the air from a dead stop. Their strong legs and massive skulls are weapons against predators.

Our vehicle was so close we could hear the bull rip the grass from the ground and chew it. I could have reached out and touched him, but I knew better!


Vachel Lindsay's poem, "The Flower-Fed Buffaloes," came to mind:

The flower-fed buffaloes of the spring
In the days of long ago,
Ranged where the locomotives sing
And the prarie flowers lie low:
The tossing, blooming, perfumed grass
Is swept away by wheat,
Wheels and wheels and wheels spin by
In the spring that still is sweet.
But the flower-fed buffaloes of the spring
Left us long ago,
They gore no more, they bellow no more
They trundle around the hills no more: --
With the Blackfeet lying low,
With the Pawnee lying low,
Lying low.

Lindsay was known as a "singing poet." He performed his poems, chanting, percussing, emoting, inflecting, and infecting his listeners with sound. Hear the regret in his voice as he gives tribute to this mammoth of the plains by clicking on the poem's title here.

At Custer State Park, the buffalo are still flower-fed and bellowing. I think Lindsay would be pleased.

A Poet’s Place

What environment do you think is conducive to writing poetry? Do any of these come to mind?

A mountain cabin
Beautiful views
Walking paths
Birdsong
Deer and other wildlife
Tall pines and spruce
Wild flowers
Solitude
A fireplace
Books
Time for reflection

That list adds up to the home of South Dakota’s first Poet Laureate and cowboy poet, Badger Clark. Clark built his own cabin in the late 1920’s on property in the Black Hills, where he lived until his death in 1957. Now a tourist site in Custer State Park http://www.blogger.com/www.sdgfp.info/Parks/Regions/Custer/badger.htm, visitors can see Clark’s many pair of cowboy boots in a row in his bedroom, note what basic kitchen products he used, and imagine him in contemplation before the fire.

A short loop path offers stops with snippets of Clark’s poetry. Sunset, Collier’s, and Arizona Highways are just three of the many magazines that published Clark’s work. "A Cowboy's Prayer" is one of his best know poems, but is often published with "Anonymous" as the author. He dedicated the poem to his mother. The text is here: www.sd4history.com/Unit7/cowboyprayer.htm

His books have never gone out of print—rare for any author, but especially a poet. The Badger Clark Memorial Society www.badgerclark.org/ promotes his work and helps maintain the Badger Hole.

More information about Clark and his influence on cowboy and western poetry is available here: www.cowboypoetry.com/badger.htm .

I would add two things to the list of environmental needs for a poet: modern plumbing and electricity! Still, I appreciate Clark’s environment and the sentiment in his poem “Ridin’” (full text here: www.badgerclark.org/ridin'.htm) :

I don't need no art exhibits

When the sunset does her best,

Paintin' everlastin' glory

On the mountains to the west