[JustAmy]

A SONG OF OKLAHOMA

Oh the plains of Oklahoma
Are beautiful to me
When the gray mirages glimmer
Like the breakers on the sea.

Or when crags and buttes and headlands,
In vermilion shades, and blue
Make perpetual Indian summer
With the sunlight sifting through.

And the hills, when autumn glory
Tints with colors gay and bold,
Every knoll and ridge and canyon
With a wealth of tawny gold.

And the plains of Oklahoma,
Overspread with ice and snow,
Quiet lie in brooding silence,
Save when raging blizzards blow.

Over prairies, vast and lonely,
Where the drifting sand-dunes surge,
Or whirl and roar in desolation,
And sing to earth a mournful dirge.

In the spring the wild gaillardia
Spreads its blanket on the hills,
And the redbud's vivid-color
Shouts a challenge from the rills.

To this land of Oklahoma,
Lured by dreams of home and gold,
Came the Boomers and the Sooners --
Pioneers both young and old,

They subdued her primal wildness,
Where was heard the coyote's call,
Now are cities, homes, and churches,
Fences, farms and derricks tall.

Oh this land of Oklahoma,
In wintry blast, or summer sun,
Names her people by the thousands,
Loyal hearts that she has won.

To her cause they pledge allegiance,
From her bounds they will not roam,
For they love her hills and prairies.
Oklahoma is their home.

By Laressa Cox McBurney
Published in Prairie Panorama in 1938


My Great Half Aunt spent most of her life in Clinton, OK.
I will try to share another of her Oklahoma poems later.


Hope everyone is having a warm fuzzy Wednesday in Oklahoma today. :)

[luvie]

Your great-aunt wrote that? Very beautiful. She was
quite talented!

[Aquamarine]

This poem your aunt wrote is remarkable, she was a very gifted writer!

Here are the lyrics to the song Oklahoma that I left off the post, thought it was making it too long.

Oklahoma,
where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain
And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain.
Oklahoma,
Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I
Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk
Makin' lazy circles in the sky.
We know we belong to the land
And the land we belong to is grand!
And when we say
Yeeow! Ayipioeeay!
We're only sayin'
You're doin' fine,
Oklahoma!
Oklahoma O.K.

[Billie]

Now see, Amy, your aunt’s poems are ‘my kind of poems’. I just love all of those that you posted on the Poetry & Potpourri threads and a few you’ve posted here before.

[La Enchiladita]

Thanks for pinging me to this beautiful poem, JustAmy.

[MEG33]

I love her poems..Thank you, Amy.