Saskatchewan?...or desert? Who could tell?
Everyone leaving....they'd not done well!
Give the land to Arabia! They'll love it here!
I'll take my old truck, a few bucks and some gear!
My wife had deserted! She'd had enough!
So, I stopped in Kamloops...parked all of my stuff!
Bought ninety-five head! Became a rancher that day!
Felt so proud and confident! I was on my way!
Cleaned up the cabin and checked, on the land,
Felt like a King, with high hopes, in my plan!
Opened up a big meadow, by removing some fence!
Cattle could wander! Green growth was so dense!
Next morning, very few, of the herd could be seen!
I wondered, about where they could have been!
Then, one...by...one....there on the ground!!
With bloated bellies...feet up...cows, all around!!
Forty-seven dead!! More looking ill!!...yet...
I rode into town, to search for a vet!
There I did learn, how little I knew,
A fence was there, so cows couldn't go through!
Blue Larkspur!! Food, that will poison a cow!
What could I do? It was too late, now!
Two days, as a rancher! Over! Yes, through!!
I felt like eating some Blue Larkspur, too!!

Pauline Banning        W4-1035-98-D14

This poem is based, on a story I read, about the Depression, in Canada.
Apparently, this "greenhorn" rancher, left that area, with all of his
savings depleted....with nothing....but, a little wiser, about the
realities of ranching. It takes knowledge, as well as determination and
confidence, to do well. The rancher would not be equipped to work, as a
bank manager and the bank manager
could not be a rancher, without a lot of preparation.

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