Poem to Woody
Out of vibrant Okemah
You bounded precocious and unconventional
Profoundly touched by Claras' death
a keen observer of Oklahoma surrounds
You went through the decline of
your influential mother
hastened by financial ruin
creating a permanent rambler
a projector of wry humour
Pampa, Corn Cob trio and Mary Jannings
then followed
all lost to the Great Dust storm
poor refugee ' Okies' moving west
Freight train hoboing, hitch-hiking ,walking
to meet with Californians' parochialism
feelings expressed in ballads and radio broadcasts
as self-promoted lifelong " outsider"
The rambler inside takes you
to "The Big Apple"
the left branding and embracing you
for your "authenticity"
Leadbelly, Houston , Ives ,Seeger
Will Geer, Sonny Terry , Brownie McGhee
Singing songs of Protest
Songs of Freedom
And for what you believed in
Lomax ,Moses Asch,Folkways
performances with
the Almanac Singers,The legendary Weavers
establishing against the stream
folk music as commercially viable
Proud Noble Gifted Woody
Peter Burton August 2006
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