Vintage Colorado Poetry Poem of the Week for Memorial Day May 31, 2004
	A young Jean Milne Gower moved to northern Colorado with  her parents from Michigan in 1871. The Milne ranch was on the Cache la Poudre River.
			A Colorado Horse on the Battle Field                           (Written, 1917) I'm dreaming, old pal, of the prairies       Out West where we both used to roam ; And the boom of the cannon's like thunder       Rolling down from the Rockies at home ; The bullets are pelting like hail, when for shelter We galloped to cottonwood grove helter-skelter. This wound in my side has the smart and the twinge Of branding irons used in our colthood.  The singe Of the hair smells the same ; and the pain---but             what's pain When memories and suffering are meeting again ? The breaking for service seems to me mere play, The strain of new muscles, the strange tasks each             day, The sickness on ocean-tossed transports seem bliss Compared to the horror and suffering of this, Keep your nose close against me---for comfort---oh,             listen ! The meadow larks singing---the peaks---how they             glisten ! I almost wish, pard, I could stay with you here       Doing my little to help in the fight--- Oh, closer---pard, closer---death presses so near---       Though I don't understand, my heart says it is             right--- See, pardner, the prairies, the mountains, how             bright---       So long, old pal---luck---and---good cheer---                                       Jean Milne Gower From The Kaleidoscope: Little Pictures of Colorado by Jean Milne Gower.  Published by The Miles & Dryer Printing Co.  Denver, Colorado.  Copyright, 1923.  Reproduction by Vintage Colorado Poetry, non-profit literary archive, for scholarly purpose:  1998 Copyright Term Extension Act [last 20 year rule].
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