Give it some lines
December 1980 Issue of Field and Stream REprints poem from 1965 - itS first in seventy years.
Field & Stream, America’s largest outdoor sports magazine, was a go-to source for inspiration as young lads. We found adventure in the outdoors and often would thumb through its photography, survival skills, and the advice of skilled hunters and anglers.
This knowledge fed a Lewis and Clark spirit of discovery like catching creek amphibians, constructing maps, and identifying and tracking animal prints. Our imaginations ran wild as our parent’s patience ran thin with our loss of time.
From my readings, I recall the importance of keeping an outdoor journal. The process reminds me of Lieutenant Dunbar in Dances With Wolves who keeps one while finding his way to a remote outpost. If it was good for him, then so for me.
Put that in your book!
Well, maybe not “that.”
There is one form of writing, however, that was never allowed in this magazine, as editorial policy – poetry. This struck me as short-sighted when I first read about it.
Poetry, like time outdoors, is an immersive exploration of a single experience, often short and unhurried; contemplative, and energizing. Publishing a poem just seems fitting for the periodical.
I am not the first reader to have felt this way.
In 1895, the magazine published its first (and last) poem. Seventy years later, reader Ed Zern submitted this creative piece as a note to the editors, expressing his misgivings with their policy. It re-ran December 1980, and I have included it below.
Clever work, Ed. I agree.
This blog is part of a newsletter, From the Field, where I deliver a list of 10 things each week that I think are worth sharing — new writings, art, adventure, music, & other interesting links. I also publish my poetry through Wild Words, which delivers one new poem, once a week – nothing more, nothing less. You can subscribe to each of these newsletters below. Thanks! Jason
