Western Folklife Center

Click here to return to the homepage of Western Folklife Center

« Weather we can talk about | Main | Leaving Baghdad »

Las Vegas

It is time for the annual Family Farm Alliance (www.familyfarmalliance.org) meeting in Las Vegas. We are going to dig out from under the snow drift and head down to 70 degree weather.
Maybe it will be spring when we return in a few days!

Siren Call

Whirl and tumble
Clatter, rumble,
Snap and flash.
Thunder’s crash.

Surround sound
All that’s found.
No peace, no still,
Sought after thrill.

The noise amazes,
Emblazes, crazes.
Constant jingle,
Fingers tingle.

Painted skies,
No sunrise.
No breeze, no gloom,
All air consumed.

Volcanoes glowing,
Fountains blowing.
Towers gleaming,
Searchlights beaming.

Pimps imploring,
Come exploring.
Bodies shaking,
Taking, breaking

Hearts which quest
For love, at best.
Or lust, at least
Offers the feast.

The desert sky
Would burn one dry.
If seekers fail
To grasp the grail

Of instant wealth,
To mask the health,
Of soul, of heart,
A brand-new start.

Find God and pray,
Renaissance day.
Hope burns bright,
Las Vegas night.

Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

The opinions expressed in the Western Folklife Center's Deep West online journals are those of the online journal participants and not the Western Folklife Center. The Western Folklife Center does not moderate these journals and as such does not guarantee the veracity, reliability or completeness of any information provided in the journals or in any hyperlink appearing within them.

About Pat & Sharon O'Toole

Sharon O'Toole
Pat and Sharon O’Toole are ranchers in the Little Snake River Valley near Savery, Wyoming, right on the Colorado-Wyoming border. They raise cattle, sheep, horses, dogs and children. Pat “immigrated” from Florida in 1970. He attended Colorado State University, where he met Sharon when both worked for the campus newspaper. Sharon grew up on their ranch, where they live and work with her father, their daughter, son and granddaughter (soon to be grandchildren!). Pat is a “water buffalo” and has served in the Wyoming House of Representatives (1986-1992), on the President’s Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission, and is the current President of the Family Farm Alliance, which advocates for farmers, ranchers and irrigators. Sharon is an author, poet and journalist. She writes extensively on Western issues and is a columnist for “The Shepherd” magazine. Pat and Sharon are the parents of three children: Meghan, 27; Bridget, 26; and Eamon, 20.
Powered by
Movable Type 3.34