The West

This poem is one of my favorites. It was written by E. A. (Earl Alonzo) Brininstool, who was born in 1870. Something about this poem calls to my soul and expresses a feeling that I hold deep inside my heart.

The Poem is called, The West.

The West

When you have lived out in the West,
Till it becomes a part of you,
And you've a feeling in your breast
No other spot on earth will do;
When you can call the desert home,
And love the ranges vast and drear,
Then every butte and rocky dome,
And stretch of sage will grow more dear.

When every flaming sunset seems
To hold you by a magic spell,
And you have visions in your dreams
Of mesa tops and chaparral;
And when the rolling prairie land
You love more than the city street,
Then shall you know and understand
The charm which draws your eager feet.

When all God's great out-of-doors
You worship with a new delight;
When rocky ridge and canyon floors,
Show added wonders day and night;
When wide, free plains seem reaching out
To welcome you with open arms,
You will have learned, without a doubt,
The secret of the great West's charms.

When you can ride each lengthening trail
Without a sense of loneliness;
When every coulee, draw and swale
Hold beauties which you may possess;
When you can read the starry Skies
Beneath which you lie down to rest,
Then shall you know and realize
The fascination of the West!

From Trail Dust of a Maverick, 1914