Sky Lines and Wood Smoke

by Badger Clark

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Hardcover

Published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Grace Gerardot · Rating 5 out of 5]

By the grace of God I discovered Badger Clark last year in South Dakota when I took a hike past his cabin. If you’ve never been to his home, imagine what the dwelling of a simple cowboy with an insatiable love of reading and a strong connection to animals and his family, what his house would look like. It’s everything you’ll imagine. I’m not a lover of western literature so I didn’t know if I’d love Badger Clark, but I do. He’s one of those people that you know you’ll be best friends with when you get to heaven, his picture now proudly hangs on my wall with the likes of Gene Stratton Porter and Beatrix Potter. Please read this book, his poetry isn’t that of John Donne or Shakespeare, but it’s sincere and true. There’s a few that I recite on walks and in moments when I’m particularly joyful, such as “I’ve got a date with the sky today.” However one of my favorites is the first in the collection which will remind you in subject matter of works like Frankenstien. His last poem that he wrote, it’s so heart warming it might beat the first. I love Badger Clark as a person, and who he was absolutely exudes from his writing. A man who loved God and nature and solitude and good friends, that’s my kind of writer. The former poet laureate deserves to be remembered, we need people like him too much not to.

[Adam Biro · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s hard to express just how much I enjoyed this little book! Suffice to say, it felt like meeting a good friend after a long absence, or a older version of myself (I might hope) if I continue to walk the western woodlands and prairies with a heart open to wonder and faith. Finding the Badger Hole - Clark’s own home - and reading Skylines and Wood Smoke is now among my favourite memories made in the beautifully Black Hills.