“Gee and Haw” is an anthropomorphic piece, at once nostalgically pastoral, romantically idyllic, traditionally Americana, and socially working class. Inspired by the legendary Twenty-One Mule Teams of the borax mines in Death Valley, the poem draws deeper into the story, back east to where the mules were bred, and how sweet was the life and inspired the dreams of the youth – once upon a time.
“GEE AND HAW”
i go back to limestone valley
don’t we all, by god, by now
through memory and blood and dreams
don’t we all, sometimes, somehow
the sunrise on the osage plains
sparkling dew drop prairie sprawl
the budding bluestem, green in spring
and switchgrass, in the summer, tall
the farmhouse, grand, ground to gables
and the stables there, once my home
and champions one and all were we
with a hundred acres fore to roam
and glory be the wondrous day
when i was five at fifteen hands
they rigged me collar, hames, and britchin
and put my passion to the land
and it was gee and it was haw
the plow was dropped the plow was drawn
and it was click-cluck getty up and whoa
the world forever turns as so
the spoils of our burden yet
behold, such fortune not our fate
we watched the setting sun burn down
in twilight by the paddock gate
and born for power over time
we are bred to pull our share
and when wherever morning comes
it shall be ours to toil there
and it is gee and it is haw
the plow is dropped the plow is drawn
and it is click-cluck getty up and whoa
this world forever turns as so
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