Hardscrabble

<p>Twenty-five years of Wes Hanson's nature paintings and pensive poetry adorn my Inland Northwest Land Conservancy office. His Hardscrabble: Life on the Land will join them soon. In 1997 Wes and his wife Gertie enlisted my organization to safeguard their family's land the Carder Farm and I have walked it many times since. This collection of thoughtful restful spare poetry is exactly like walking with Wes. It's a memoir a paean to the farm a slow walk through a wildlife haven and Wes's life. Reading the poems I focused on nearby things like the hot fumes of the old Ford tractor and far off soaring hawks. Being in my own autumn Wes's observation that yellow leaves fall. . . in slow subtraction led me gently to one of his final poems Last Morning.</p><p></p><p>Chris DeForest is Senior Conservationist for Inland Northwest Land </p><p>Conservancy.</p><p></p><p>Hardscrabble: Life on the Land is a collection of lyrical compelling poems that chronicle one man's love for and dedication to a piece of land that he has nurtured and worked on much of his life. Wes Hanson's poems arranged by seasons will engage readers who have ever fought to protect a beloved piece of ground from a garden plot or woodlot to a Montana cattle ranch or redwood forest. Kentucky has Wendell Berry. Idaho has Wes Hanson.</p><p></p><p>Denise Clark Retired Librarian North Idaho College</p>