"When all at once a mighty herd of red eyed cows he saw / a-plowing through the ragged sky"

[larryhammer]

Proposition: To write a contemporary Pastoral that takes advantage of the traditional methods and machinery for exalting the simple life over modern urban living, you could make a worse start than replacing the shepherds with cowboys.

Bonus points if you manage to co-opt the genre conventions of cowboy Romance novels along the way. Still more bonus points for co-opting tropes from country-and-western songs.

Caution: Do not attempt unless you are able to believe, at least for the duration of writing, that rural life really is simpler and not rougher, and civilization corrupts rather than refines.

---L.

Comments

[oracne.livejournal.com]

That could be interesting.

[larryhammer]

One way to possibly make it work is adding porn conventions to the mix -- city slickers are all uptight about sex, but out on the ranch, we know how to get it on. Early and often, partner.

---L.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Do city slickers have fancy toys, perhaps?

[larryhammer]

I reckon they might.

---L.

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

Oh do not tempt me, wordsmith
nor lead me into the woods of distraction
with ideas planted on my glowing screen.

The days flee,
tumble like pebbles down a hill
and are gone anon, vanish
before I gain more than a glimpse,
grab more than a taste of sweet life.

Do not tempt me with thy evil games
for the mind is weak and yielding
and the words so, so sweet.....


I have so many other writing things that I HAVE to do...

[larryhammer]

Yeah, so? As if I don't have a list a screen long of projects that Must Be Written.

---L.

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

Well...yeah. You do.

But I think I'm still going to leave this to you. You're a much better poet than I am. Especially formal poetry.