Book Review: From the West to the Inland and Beyond
Like a cup of strong cowboy coffee, these poetic treasures will help the reader start their day. From the west to the interior and beyond is appropriately divided into three sections of poetry, each with a slightly different genre. The bulk of this book is “Cowboy Poetry,” which covers a wide range of emotions. Some verses are whimsical to the point of laugh-out-loud humor, some are cynical to the point of fatalism; but all of these offerings are entertaining, and many provide the reader with introspection and thought exploration.
The author, Dick Warwick, certainly knows the “West” as he has been a wheat farmer all his long life. He has raised horses, chickens, and cattle, baled cattle, and harvested wheat, barley, and lentils during the hot, dusty summers in the Palouse Hills of eastern Washington state. Warwick has also spent several of “our” winters harvesting wheat in Australia, hence the “Outback” experiences. However, our author is much more than a farmer and rancher. Warwick is a classic example of the renaissance man, as he was an honor student and javelin thrower at Stanford University; he has been a writer, performer, musician, builder, artist, grandfather and much more. His vast experiences and knowledge provide the reader with inspiration and introspection.
My personal favorite poems are in the “Beyond” section of the book. Some of the more perceptive include My old Chevy truck, don’t pigeonhole me, the mayflyand very funny the end user. Having personally split many bales when I was young, I discovered hayboy, from the “Out West” section of the book, to feel nostalgic. And, the most exciting offerings, in my opinion, include the brutal boss a tongue-in-cheek poem that highlights the dilemma of the typical self-employed farmer. That poem entertains us with its fanciful and revealing ending. And finally, The dollar watch invokes reflection and melancholy.
This book of poetry is one of the new self-published genre, but unlike some of those unpublished books, this one is flawless. Also, I had a good laugh at the title and the author and publisher icon. The publisher’s title is Cowhand Press and the icon appears to be a cow. However, upon further investigation, it can be determined that the cow is the tracing of a reversed hand with added bovine characteristics, hence “Cow Hand”.
I suggest that the reader start their day with one of these entertaining poems, and I recommend this collection to all discerning poetry readers!
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