Dennis Russell runs a cow/calf outfit in southern Colorado. He won the amateur division of the International Western Music Association’s first Cowboy Poetry Jackpot in 2014. That same year, he created and produced the first Cimarron Cowboy Music and Poetry Gathering.
Terry Nash raises crossbred Herefords west of Grand Junction, Colorado. He produces the Western Slope Cowboy Gathering in Grand Junction and performs all across the southern Rockies. Terry won both the IWMA’s Male Poet of the year and the Cowboy Poetry CD of the Year in 2018.
Valerie Beard is a writer, teacher, and crew cook who raises cattle in southeast Colorado, twelve cattle guards from pavement. Reciting her first poem, “No Better Life,” she won her division in the 2015 IWMA Poetry Jackpot. Valerie’s poems tell of joys and hardships. She’s seen them both.
Floyd Beard was raised in northeastern New Mexico and has lived what he writes. His many awards include the 2015 Kansas State Cowboy Poetry Champion in serious and humorous categories and the 2016 and 2017 IWMA Male Cowboy Poet of the Year. Floyd’s verses illustrate his life.
Dale Page earned an English degree at Oklahoma State while shoeing horses and assisting in the vet lab. He won the 2015 IWMA Cowboy Poetry CD of the Year, Best Serious Poet at the 2010 Cowboy Poetry Rodeo, and Best Performer at the OSU Cowboy Poetry and Songs event in 2008.
Four Aces and a Queen
by Dennis Russell, Terry Nash, Valerie Beard, Floyd Beard, Dale Page
Four Aces and a Queen
by Dennis Russell, Terry Nash, Valerie Beard, Floyd Beard, Dale Page
Published Apr 23, 2021
229 Pages
Genre: POETRY / General
Book Details
“There are days that dawn bright, sunbeams elbowing their way through the limbs
of the cedars while other days creep in cautiously, peering about before making an
entrance. I want our readers to share these times, to be able to feel the breeze on
their brows and to smell the sage when the sun bakes down.” —Valerie Beard
“I want to take you into a poem, whether it’s inspired by an event or just made up.
I want you to see and feel what the characters saw and felt. I want to pull you into
these poems by giving you lots of details. Whether or not you’ve been there before,
I want to take you there now so you can see it and feel it like I did.” —Dale Page
“Cowboy Poetry is a story I want to tell others. It may be a window into a Western
lifestyle I live in and love, or it could be a humorous or a serious story that came
to mind and which I want to share. I love to rhyme words and make them flow. I
have been blessed to live much of the life I write about.” —Floyd Beard
“I’ve always felt obliged to put a smile on someone’s face
By sharing here some western tales with just a little ‘lace’
And writing true adventures ‘bout the cowpoke and his story
While stretching out a tale and just promotion’ cowboy glory.” —Dennis Russell
“It might be a generation or two in our past, but almost all of us have an agrarian
experience in our backgrounds. Cowboy poetry speaks to the memories we have
of life on the farm or ranch, or just visiting Grandpa’s farm when a child. I believe
it’s my duty to celebrate our heritage and awaken those memories.” —Terry Nash
About the Author
Dennis Russell, Terry Nash, Valerie Beard, Floyd Beard, Dale Page
Also by Dennis Russell, Terry Nash, Valerie Beard, Floyd Beard, Dale Page
