The Two Boots Word Vault

Juan Ramon Jimenez admired Walt Whitman as a truly aristocratic man.  At the 40th anniversary of the Minnesota Men's Conference, I present this essay about the type of man I believe should be considered an Aristocrat.

My violinist wife, Dalyce Elliott Young composed and performed five small vignettes to play when she read the Beatrix Potter's tales, Squirrel Nutkin, Benjamin Bunny, Two Bad Mice, Tom Kitten, and Flopsy Bunnies to children at storytelling events near our home. 

In 2001 a collection of poets was featured in the book, Poetry Speaks.  Three CDs were included, and I have a few here for your listening, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Robinson Jeffers, William Stafford, Etheridge Knight, W.B. Yeats, and Walt Whitman. 

Timothy Young presented a number of aphorisms and quotes by various poets and authors at the 2024 Minnesota Men's Winter Conference, Utter Darkness/Shining Brow on February 3, 2024.  Let them fall like birch leaves dropping from the tree on an autumn morning.

This election year I revisit the prefaces from my 1984 chapbook, Meen Don't Dance in America, and the 1985 chapbook, Fairyland After Carnival. I also include my 2016 poem, Trump Never Laughs, recorded at Como Cottage in January 2017.
It is important to acknowledge the darker material of our culture and work toward the more joyous aspects of life.

During the 'shelter in place' times during the Covid 19 pandemic, my good friend Dave Ballman took six of my small poems and turned them into songs.  He then recorded them. I am honored to have his artistry merging with mine and now I get to share them with you.

In 2004 my essay I Love the Single Deer Path was included in the book, Eco-man, New Perspectives on Masculinity and Nature, edited by Mark Allister for University of Virginia Press. The essay explains my various relationships with my brothers, friends, my search for deeper meaning in the rites of hunting.  In 2009 an edited version was translated and published in Oslo, Norway's Dag og Tid publication.

In 2010 Scott King and Red Dragonfly Press published my book of poems, Herds of Bears Surround Us. This is the final section of poems from that book.
The opening music is from Pundela's Farewell by The Spirit House Quartet. The end music is the musical accompaniment of Glen Helgeson on the poem  Tears with Timothy Young on their CD, Riding a Dark Wind