In tight and busy parking lots
You can easily get perturbed
Should I back out; take the long way,
Or should I just jump the curb?
Jeeportunity!
The well-worn road around the butte
Will take ten minutes more
But a dusty two-track byway
Will save us some time -- I'm sure!
Jeeportunity!
This time the parking lot is full
‘cept a small space next to a hill
“No worries!” mumbling to no one,
“I’ll just drive it up there in Four-wheel.
Jeeportunity!
It”s time to buy a set of wheels,
Your spouse wants the blue mini-van.
There, on the end, what’s that you see?
A Rubi Wrangler! Yup, I’m a fan!
Jeeportunity!
Some cold day in my future life
I will climb the stairway to heaven,
In a golden Jeep with a mega lift
And the tires will be Thirty Sevens!
Jeeportunities!
I love vocabulary games, and these odd words came up in English words games, recently: Bute ( I know "Butte" but not BUTE) & "abseil," "landau," and even "Bourne" (identity?).
A poem about a simpler word, FLIERS.
When we say FLY,
Buzzing by and by
Which is it?
Plane or insect?
But when we use "Fliers"
The letters reveal secrets:
"liFe," "selF," "lies" & "Flies" again
LIFERS is best of all
In this game; Hope for us all
The most corrupt official around
was replaced by a young basset hound
Now mayor of Butte
he's tough and he's cute
barking decisions both honest and sound
The most corrupt official around
was replaced by a young basset hound
Now mayor of Butte
he's tough and he's cute
barking decisions both honest and sound
1/28/22
Buckaroos wave in the wagons into a corral, circle of
Conestoga wagons mixed with covered wagons 100 count,
Next to the butte, a springer delivers calf alive; compadres cheer wahoo!
Exuberance looking at large remuda, choosing each a horse to mount.
Morning sun illuminates camp as mozo helps secure on a horse the rig,
Saddle up with aparejo and alforja to work on the range, the keen
Vaqueros mill the running cattle into a circle, and bulldog the doggie
Pulling down the calf to avoid the barranca deep ravine.
Noontime hot sun heats frijoles, huevos rancheros, and beef or lunch,
Cowboys drift cattle slowly ranch side, buckaroo pulls in the doggie stray calf,
Moving away from the coulee ravine towards the crick,
Dragonflies zoom near as waddys punch cattle herding,
resounding a hooray laugh.
Evening warm summer sun lights adobe viga roof beam end rustic,
Acequia irrigation canal greens the bolson flat arid valley,
Olla earthenware pot full of water complement hoedown and dinner,
Ramada shelter branches on roof give rest to camp, peaceful tally.
a child’s volcano
in truth — a butte with fog
but let the boy dream
1/17/2019
Comfortable in her position on the butte
Shaded under her large brimmed straw hat
Her thoughts drifted lazily
Wondering at the sultry day
Surveying lizards basking in the blistering sunlight
Marveling at their tolerance of the arid desert climate
She knew the night lizards were cloaked beneath rocky crevices
Waiting patiently for darkness to materialize
She loved this desert and the quietude
And took advantage now this summer
For she knew how the sky could weep
When summer blended quietly into fall
I'm on my way to Butte Montana,
where the mountains reach the sky,
and the eagles soar way up high,
folks are friendly and give you a smile,
it's the Montana way of saying stay awhile.
I'm on my way to Butte Montana,
need a change of scenery,
where the forests are full of greenery,
ranches spread throughout the land,
cowboys on horses roping calves to brand.
I'm on my way to Butte Montana,
it is where I am bound,
praying a job will be found,
my lonely saddle needs a horse to ride
so I can rope cattle with some pride.
I'm on my way to Butte Montana,
with shiny boots and a new ten-gallon hat,
making me feel like a big fat cat,
as I act like a polite and handsome dude
so all the ladies will not find me rude.
I'm on my way to Butte Montana,
staying a night at a KOA Campground
with folks who are from all around,
sharing a campfire with sparkling and glowing heat,
knowing this is the life that cannot be beat.
A barn southwest of Central Butte
Could be seen for miles around
Upon a hill, and that was how
The Mattus place was found
A big and very well used barn
With lots of stock and feed
Pride of the Prairie West Winds Farms
A sentinel indeed
In the big bad wind of seventy-six
The Mattus place was rocked
Left Jean and Joan without a home
With John and Loretta shocked
And so the plans for their new shop
Became a barn instead
A stately straight white structure
Instead of plain old red
The big new barn soon came to know
The routine of the old
With dances held up on the loft
More shelter from the cold
An insulated calving room
New tack room ‘neath the stairs
With many new adjusting pens
Real forward thinking there
The new barn has served for many years
Just like the old one had
Still in the Mattus family
With Sheldon, Ron’s first lad
While other barns are leaning now
And threaten to fall down
The Mattus barn is straight and tall
The sturdiest around
That barn southwest of Central Butte
Can be seen for miles around
Upon a hill, it still is how
The Mattus place is found
Written by Jan Berger adapted for music by Mike Martin
My Pen
© Ben Burton 1-08-2015
She was young and beautiful
I was hung and comical
Hung with humor found a way to beauty's heart
Though I was never lyrical
That undisputed miracle
Inspired my pen to challenge Shelley's art
Life with her was glorious
Straight out of a storybook
Where forever would not be half long enough
Rode the waves at Malibu
Skied the slopes of Crested Butte
Stayed at home for days on end just making love
For six years I have known such pain and sorrow
Since the final, sad "Goodbye" I gave my wife
Now these tears you see me shedding are all borrowed
From the deep well where my heart was drowned that night
Though I'm still a youthful man
I will never love again
The only poems left in my pen
Are filled with anger, grief and spite
TOP TEN MOST BEAUTIFUL SIGHTS I HAVE SEEN
Photo of my wife holding a rose
Some years ago in a hotel in Tallinn, Estonia. . . . .
My newborn children all red and bright-eyed.. . . . .
My 12 year old daughter present-hunting
In her robe early on Christmas morning.. . . . .
My two small sons and the cat all fast asleep in one bed
And three noses just poking out of the blankets.. . . . .
Actress Elizabeth Taylor playing
The role of Rebecca in movie “ Ivanhoe”.. . . . . .
Fiery colors in autumn forests in Montana near Butte.. . . . . .
Early spring on the still-snowy Banff-Jasper Parkway, Alberta.. . . . .
The Northern Lights seen from high up the Canadian Rockies.. . . . . .
Winnipeg at night seen from 30 000 feet in an aircraft.. . . . . .
Saturn in a telescope, all silent, still and majestic.. . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Written for Adeleke Adeite's Contest "Top Ten"
Majoring in school as a biology chemist
Melanie finds joy conducting experiments
Taking full time units at Butte College
Learning, studying, gaining knowledge
Not surprised if her thing for frogs and tortoise
Came from having to dissect them on purpose
Hours spent in the lab looking for an answer
Maybe one day she’ll find a cure for cancer
Her wit is dry, amusing to her friends
Joking about chemical smells on her hands
Her expressions, delivery, timing are superb
Her humor is unique like nothing ever heard
Friday night, band practice is heaven
Playing bass guitar with Dani and Kevin
Close friends on Sunday’s gather for lunch
Downtown café, champagne brunch
Go Green is her mantra, her life legacy
Earth conscious and clean is her tendency
Protect the environment, always recycle
Choose to not drive, ride a bicycle
At twenty two, she wants to have a voice
Humboldt State is her college of choice
She loves nature, living among the trees
The rain, the mountains, falling leaves
Her future looks nothing less than great
Able to work long hours and stay up late
Her gift is her humor, her mind, her resilience
She has what counts, wit and brilliance
You were seventeen
I was fifteen
There were two
Then there was one
The One who is left
Mom immersed in what-ifs
Sits at the kitchen counter
Death supersedes life
My here and now disappears
Into your not-to-be future
Dad in pained denial
Runs another thousand miles
Returns with his pretender
Found in Butte Montana
Who stays awhile
Every night
Alone
Insulated by bedroom walls
The pain -- rebuffed all day
Roils up
And I understand forever
Mortality is real
The empty spaces
Tell me
Just how gone you are
But I am still here
How am I to fix this?
How am I to feel this?
How am I to be?
The One who is left
< sphinx ~ head
who ~ said
roman ~ God
without ~ bod
shadow ~ illusion
causing ~ confussion
butte ~ mesa
I ~ guess ~ a
transition ~ zone
with-out ~ phone
oh ~ my ~ cydonia
don't ~ all ~ just ~ wanna ~ ya
Entry For
Carolyn Devonshire's
Sphinx Head On Mars Contest
G.L. All
The lake is just so pretty today,
I don’t want to leave;
Playing out in the splashing spray,
Mom, Dad, Me and Steve!
Catching catfish off the dock,
And putting them on ice;
I even jumped in off Cliff Rock,
Not just once but twice;
Zeus and Eos splashing around,
Chasing waves as they roll in;
Then rolling around on the ground,
Their faces with a silly grin;
The water is so clean and clear,
And not too cold or hot;
Kicking back with an ice cold beer,
Man that hit’s the spot;
We want to swim to Kettle Top,
But it’s just so far away;
Into the sand, now I drop,
I think it’s here I’ll stay;
Stretched out on the sand,
Soaking up the sun;
The perfect book in my left hand,
Until the day is done;
And as we pack up all our gear,
I look back over the lake;
At the landscape that can be severe,
From the Butte down to the wake!
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