-AS RECOGNIZED BY WRITER'S DIGEST-
Bearlodge Writers
Kathleen Smith
Kathleen Smith was born on the Little Laramie River in Southeast, Wyoming. Today she cares for ranch lands in northern Campbell County, Wyoming. Her love for rivers, cow pastures, and old buildings was shaped by generations of family before her. She follows her legacy, writing about the reality of ranch life in the heart of the American West.
After Life Moves On
A tree stands alone
by a cracked foundation
nestled into brome grasses.
Once a sapling, grown from
shed-roof rainwater,
now mature, leaves shade broken boards.
Wild roses and lavender lilacs flourish
by flat rocks laid for stepping stones.
All remnants of a good life on this hillside.
The windmill spins and creaks
in the breeze, stick broke,
no water pumps for the house.
Willows cover water ditches
once running to fields.
Canada thistle blooms, then dries,
next year’s seed left behind.
Wire on leaning fence lines
no longer tightened
by a rancher’s love for his place.
Kathleen Smith
Publication:
Labyrinth, WyoPoets, “Box Equal Barn” juried by A. Rose Hill, April 2016
Weather Watch, WyoPoets, “Winter Feed” juried by Barbara M. Smith, April 2015
The High Plains Register, “Prairie Pasture” Laramie County Community College Literary Journal, Kristin Abraham, Editor, 2014
Awards & Recognition:
WyoPoets Workshop Facilitator, “Award for Excellence” April 2016
Wyoming Arts Council Poetry Fellowship Finalist, 2015
Writers Digest Online Article on Writing Groups featuring Bearlodge Writers, July 2014
Wyoming Writers, Inc., Emmie Mygatt Award for Outstanding Service, June 2013