by Rebecca Hein

“Listen my children and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

On the eighteenth of April in Seventy-five,

Hardly a man is now alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.”

Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

As with classical music, when it comes to poetry, I am a traditionalist. I like how Henry Wadsworth Longfellow captures the feel of the horse galloping, and I favor rhythm and meter.

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For years, I regarded free verse as cheating; where’s the discipline imposed on the poet? But this attitude didn’t last. About 25 years ago I read a poem, “Shorty’s Bones,” by Robert Roripaugh, in which he created a compelling picture—that I couldn’t forget—of the dead horse, Shorty, lying on a sagebrush slope, with cheatgrass growing through the eye sockets of his skull. Thus, I learned that free verse can be a valuable source of imagery, and therefore, in my mind, legitimate.

In “Shorty’s Bones,” Roripaugh weaves his memories of his father’s stubborn, raunchy horse with his climb up the hill in search for the spot he died, and his metaphysical ponderings on evolution. While the galloping hooves of Paul Revere’s horse come to life in the galloping pace of Longfellow’s meter and rhyme, Roripaugh’s specificity brings his readers right up the hill alongside him, in search of Shorty. It wasn’t just a ranch on an unnamed creek, it was on Baldwin Creek. It wasn’t just grass growing around Shorty’s bones, it was cheatgrass. Shorty didn’t dump him alongside just any river, it was the Popo Agie. And Shorty didn’t just die from a snake bite, it was a rattlesnake. The poem, like many of his, transports you and leaves a lasting impression of Wyoming. 

Governor Jim Geringer must have also found Roripaugh’s imagery compelling and his style legitimate when Geringer made him Wyoming’s poet laureate from 1995 to 2002. Wyoming’s poet laureates play an important role in our state—beyond attending public gatherings of writers and giving public talks, they also give voice to the soul of Wyoming. A good poem can remind us of a significant period of history, transport us to a different place or time, and at its best remind us that we are human beings. 

We are coming to the end of poetry month, and I encourage you to pick up your favorite book of poems, go to the library and discover a new poet or maybe write a verse or two of your own.

Discover more about Wyoming’s poet laureates:

• Barbara Smith (October 2023 – current)
• Gene Gagliano (2016 – October 2023)
• Rose Hill (July 9, 2015 – July 10, 2016)
• Echo Roy Klaproth (July 10, 2013 – July 8, 2015)
• Patricia Frolander (November 7, 2011 – June 9, 2013)
• David Romtvedt (August 15, 2004 – January 3, 2011)
• Robert Roripaugh (July 21, 1995 – 2003)
• Charles Levendosky (January 4, 1988 – 1995)
• Peggy Simson Curry (January 14, 1981 – January 20, 1987)

Read PEGGY SIMSON CURRY, WYOMING’S FIRST POET LAUREATE
Read ROBERT RORIPAUGH, WYOMING POET LAUREATE 1995-2002