cowboypoetrypress

Elizabeth Akin Stelling, Managing Editor- CPP traveled to Hawaii this past fall with a quest to find Polynesian Cowboys, and that she did. A chef and poet and sometime photographer her poetry and photography has been published in Referential Magazine, Tuck, Linden Lit Press, Curio, and many others. (photo taken on south side of the big island of Hawaii).

Fat and Sassy

He laughed when he said

I like my women like my horses

Fat and sassy.

I answered

A little hunger’s not a bad thing.

He said, nah

Fat and sassy’s the way to be.

His wife pointed to her geldings

Turned out together in the arena.

The chestnut with the white blaze and two white socks

And the brown with a little star

Kicking up their heels

In a lively

Dusty

Horse dance.

Aren’t they marvelous creatures

She breathed into the wind.

The most marvelous in all god’s creation.

I leaned on the fence

And I watched with her

And I kissed my mare

On her velvet nose

How a woman does love her horse.

Riding Lessons

When I was a girl

I rode horses.

Beneath me

Muscle

Sinew

Coarse hair

Sweat

Horse musk.

Now I am a woman

And I ride young

With equal vigor.

Julia Barrett grew up in rural Iowa. She’s married to the love of her life. They have three amazing children. She’s a writer of poetry and prose, a Registered Nurse and a trained pastry chef. Julia loves to travel and she’s visited or lived in all fifty states. You
will usually find her hiking with her dog or riding her horse. If she’s at home, she’s cooking, baking or writing books. Julia can be reached via twitter: @JuliaRBarrett or her website: http://juliarachelbarrett.net or her Amazon Author page: *http://tinyurl.com/czph8lu*