Review by Laurie Wagner Buyer
Local Poet – June 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
Write Tough!
by Peggy Godfrey
published in 1996 by MediaChaos
ISBN 0-9644375-2-X
Peggy Godfrey, a resilient and dedicated ranch woman from Moffat, has done it again. She has taken her heart and opened it, taken her voice and spoken like the wind, taken her vision of a life on the land and recreated it for all of us to see, hear and feel. Write Tough! is Peggy’s third book of poetry and reflections. Her first two, Write ’em Cowboy and Write ’em Roughshod, have earned her praise from over the West for her keen insight, quick wit, wry humor, and bluntly telling it like it is.
Write Tough!, Godfrey explains in the introduction, “is a play on the expression `ride tough’ which includes staying on a horse for the duration, pushing through bleak nights for dawn’s promise, weathering storms, finishing a job with sensible persistence which recognizes and respects limitations.”
The poems and stories in Write Tough! reveal a woman who has seen the worst life has to dish out (both in ranch life and in personal relationship) but continues to believe in a better tomorrow. It is evident that her daily companions, the cattle and sheep she cares for, her horses and dogs, are the constants in her life. The land itself is her foundation. All else she deals with as best she can with fortitude, grace, a sense of humor, and an understanding of the word “balance.”
Godfrey’s poems are about the land, the weather, calving and lambing, trailing and working cattle, gardening, long days and even longer nights, establishing a “rough and ready” role for other women to follow.
Her innate respect for the land, the animals, and people shines through but her staunch stance when it comes to being bullied or abused by a “macho minaret” is impressive.
Godfrey has worked hard for her place in agriculture and she lets you know that she will fight for her right to be a “cowboy.” As she has always said: “Cowboy is not a noun, it is a verb!” And I believe she can cowboy with the best of them as well as weld, mechanic, put up hay, irrigate, buck bales, feed, ride, doctor, and any other sundry chore that comes up.
My favorite poem in the book is “Tough Times For A Rock”: “I am a chunk of granite,” the poem begins. “Dynamited from my complacency/ Blasted and ripped/ From my mountain.”
The book expresses the pain and hurt and yielding that we all face in life, but in the end Godfrey lets us know that a spiritual affinity for the land and “yielding to the Master’s hand” can give us the strength to accept and overcome things beyond our control.
Write Tough! is exquisitely illustrated with drawings by Susan Kemenyffy. Each sketch of a hawk, owl, calf, a hat, a woman’s face or hands is as powerful and real as a photograph. They lend a visual interpretation to Godfrey’s poems which could not be done except by someone who shares Godfrey’s love of the land and dedication to her lifestyle.
Godfrey’s vision is that we all need to have a permanent relationship with the land, the animals, both wild and domestic, that dwell thereon, and with each other in order for the world to be a wonderful place to live. Godfrey is as committed and forthright about agriculture as anyone can be. I respect and admire her ability in a darn tough life and I admire her ability to put it all down in writing for us to read.
–Laurie Wagner Buyer
Write Tough! is also available from the author for $8 plus $1.24 for postage and handling: Peggy Godfrey, 19157 County Road 60, Moffat CO 81143.