Hmm...This one gives me a clue to The Traveler's identity... - poetheart 09/04/01
I'd like to be considered a spinner of good tales-
They serve to entertain one, when other effort fails.
The bard who's prone to wander, is heir to many sights-
To pass the time by roadside fires, on long, and lonely nights.I've seen the green Pacific, on Oahu's northern shore-
The breakers; awe inspiring, incessantly they roar-
I've walked the midnight beaches, Kahuku, Wakiki-
And I've hiked the western highways, like a wolf so wild and free.Mount Rainier, in glacial beauty, to a soldier; frozen hell-
But the icy beauty of her slopes entrapped me with their spell-
I have faced the freezing blizzards of the Rockies winter storms
And have roamed the high North Texas plains, where the rivers all are formed.I love southwestern deserts, with their beauty raw and harsh-
And the verdant Lousiana, with her rivers, lakes, and marsh-
The brasada of South Texas, unchanged by hand of time-
And the twisty Rio Grande, and it's great Big Bend- sublime.Ah, the stories for the telling, those I've known, and that I've seen-
Days of hunger and of plenty, times of drought, and meadows green.
Times of sorrow and of joy, tales of love, and enmity-
I'd not fear to do it over, for those times have made me, me.I scarce claim to be a poet; yet methinks I have the gift-
To twist a word adroitly, to give your soul a lift-
So I've tried to entertain you; ah? forgive me if I fail-
If at first I don't succeed, I'll try another "Traveler's Tale."
by John R. Yaws