Category: Musings

Musings on poetry and such

Musings

Odd-Job Woman at Odds

ROMPoetry
shaun
Shaun telling a story at the Chickasaw Cultural Center

It is time to make a living via poetry. Well . . . sort of.

I have two weeks left at my full-time job at the rock quarry before I get laid off. I teach part-time for meager wages at two colleges, and it’s not enough to live on. I am excited about not driving to Tulsa 3 days a week, but I am a bit scared about the prospect of supporting myself. I will have more time for museum enterprises, which have never cost much money anyway. The building was donated by my parents, the materials that went into creating the exhibits and displays were found materials or donated or bought on the cheap at yard sales. All the labor that has gone into the museum has been the loving work of  friends and family. Continue reading “Odd-Job Woman at Odds” →

Events, Musings

Arts in the Community

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Old photo of Locust Grove
Old photo of Locust Grove

Many of you know that I grew up in the small town I now live in. I graduated from high school in Locust Grove in 1980 and went to various places, none far away. In 2005, I moved back here and began teaching at Pryor Junior High. My mother was a teacher at Locust Grove High School for thirty years, and her family and my dad’s family have lived in Locust Grove and Rose for more than 100 years. This community is important to us. Continue reading “Arts in the Community” →

Events, Musings

ROMP Shop

ROMPoetry

rubysThe year 2013 ended auspiciously for your humble curator. On Dec. 24, I  learned I won a grant for the museum from the Popular Culture Association. Two days later, I was run over by a semi-truck and lost my lovely Black Panther (Ford Ranger) and am still without a vehicle, but I survived.

What will 2014 hold for the museum? The biggest news is that I am expanding. Continue reading “ROMP Shop” →

Musings, Poems

Harness Up The Day

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The door at the Woody Guthrie Center
At the Woody Guthrie Center

Oklahoma has created some stellar poets, to name a few–John Berryman, Joy Harjo, N. Scott Momaday, and Kevin Welch.  Our fly-over state has also produced some first-rate songwriters who have the musical poet strong inside them: Garth Brooks, Roy Clark, Wanda Jackson, Reba McEntire, Leon Russell, Dwight Twilley, Bob Wills, and Kevin Welch again, among them. But our greatest poet has to be Woody Guthrie. And yes, he was a poet. Just read the lyrics to “Harness Up The Day”: Continue reading “Harness Up The Day” →

Musings, Poems

Butch’s Painting

ROMPoetry

I have not written a Craig’s List poem in a while, a poem wherein I take a strange, sad, semi-literate, or otherwise entertaining ad from that fine website and write a poem to accompany, or perhaps, explain it in some way. I just found this ad in the General listings and went WHOA. What in the hell is going on in this painting? Continue reading “Butch’s Painting” →

Musings, Poems

Add-A-Line for Ida

ROMPoetry

ida-mascotIda Red, one half of the museum mascot team, has decided that she needs to contribute more to the ROMP mission. Thus, she will occasionally make a post on this blog. Though she is a redbone coonhound, she does not hunt so much as she . . . waddles around on the land and hogs the golf cart. She needs to at least exercise her mental and creative faculties, so in her first blog, she would like some help in writing a poem:

RRRRRuff! RRRRRRuff! RRRRRRRuk uk uk uh uh . . .  Pardon me, got a bark caught in my throat. It’s getting cold out here in the sticks. Anyone got some kibble? Yeah I know I just ate. Continue reading “Add-A-Line for Ida” →