Peggy Vining is Arkansas’s Poet Laureate. She was appointed to this position in 2003 by Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Since 1963, Vining has been a member of Poet’s Roundtable of Arkansas (PRA) which is associated with the National Federation of State Poetry Societies. She attributes her writing success to the “wonderful poets of PRA that mentored, encouraged and inspired me to keep writing”. Vining has served as state PRA President for three separate terms. She has been director of the Ozark Creative Writers Conference, the Arkansas Writers Conference and still serves on the official Board of each. She has also served as state President of Arkansas Penwomen and Arkansas Songwriters Association and is a member of Fiction Writers of Central Arkansas. Her bio is listed in Who’s Who of Editors, Writers and Poets and several other such books and anthologies. She is presently compiling a collection of her published works entitled “Tethered to the Moment”.
Loved and appreciated for her artistic abilities and her work with children, Vining has nurtured over 6000 pre-schoolers during her teaching career. For twenty one years, she was Instructor and Director of the UALR Children’s Center having earned a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education. She has also worked with children’s groups at her church for many years.
Married for over 60 years, Vining cherishes her family; She is a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. other of five (four daughters and one son)and grandmother of eleven and Greatgrandmother of eight. Vining is also active in many other community organizations. A twenty-seven year cancer survivor, she was honored with a “Point of Light Award” from President Bush for her volunteer work with CARTI.
Arkansas, The Natural State
I stood today on top of Petit Jean And felt a kindredship to all I found, And I, intrigued by such a lovely scene, Was grateful for the beauties that abound. The spirit of a mountain miss was host, Her phantom figure hovered, light as wind, And I became enchanted by her ghost, As we stood on the ledge at river’s bend. I asked her of her legend and its truth; Of how she stowed away to sail from France, Of how she cropped her hair; became uncouth, To give her love and lover one more chance. “It is all truth; the future will proclaim My spirit guards this mount which bears my name.” Then, as we talked, my personage subdued, And I became, as Petit Jean, a ghost, And with uncanny knowledge I reviewed Historic deeds of others who could boast, Of coming to this great green state to live; To homestead and to plow their plots of land; To mine the hills; to hunt the woods and give Their very lives to make it far more grand. I spoke to men who also came to look For ways of life upon the river’s road; They pushed their crafts to every shallow nook And rounded bends of hardship with each load. The Indians told me their tales of woe, Of how they battled as both friend and foe. They told me how De Soto searched for gold And, trudging through the swamps to look for it, As upward, through the mountains and the cold, He traded with the natives, matching wit. La Salle then came to claim the Arkansas But left to join another group of men, De Tonty came to start, as did John Law, A river post where trading could begin. These men with whom I talked could really boast Of being first to settle on this land, Of fighting long and hard to save the Post Where then was housed the laws and all command. My spirit saw the past and lived it through, A vision of the old when it was new. As history passes, the seasons came in view, And time and space and beauty knew no date. I saw each month in its most brilliant hue And gazed at it as if I tempted fate. I looked at Spring and thought it surely best, For everywhere the land was newly green, The pristine white of dogwood seemed to test The worthiness and beauty of each scene. Then summer came with nesting meadowlarks, And I beheld the golden days of fun, As tourists came with camping gear to parks, And found their pleasures under shade and sun. I watched the summer visitors with awe, They loved this state of mine . . .this Arkansas. Perhaps they liked spelunking in a cave, Or digging for a diamond at the mine, Or floating trips that made of them a slave To mountain streams, to setting out trotline. Perhaps they liked the baths at old Hot Springs, Or climbing under rushing waterfalls, Or smelling the sweet air that summer brings, Or listening to whippoorwills’ faint calls. I think they surely liked the little creeks, That tumble down deep-set against tall bluffs. I think they liked the deer and quail that seeks New hideouts when invaders find their roughs. The eager tourists came to see our state Because the opportunities are great. Then suddenly, as Autumn took her turn, The Ozark Hills became a brilliant hue. In blazing reds the forest seemed to burn Across the valleys, up the mountains too. In delta lands I saw vast cotton crops, And harvest fields of rice, bowed down with grain. The short-leaf pines were green with heavy tops, And muscadines hung heavy down the lane. Then winter came attired in snowfall white, And lovely landscapes suddenly seemed bare. The prairie sky was filled with ducks in flight, And sounds of happy hunters filled the air. O Arkansas, which season is your best? Each one seems far more lovely than the rest. What makes you great? I wondered as I looked. Is it your timber, standing straight and tall? Is it your rivers wide and roughly crooked? Is it your lovely Ozarks in the fall? Is it your heritage that makes you grand, Your opportunities . . . yet still unknown? Is it your rich oil fields, or delta land That makes men proud to choose you for their own? O Arkansas, I see your very breath, In hazy clouds that skim your vast terrain. I know about your struggling with death And I have felt your birth with labored pain. O land of mine, I find you truly great, No wonder you are called “The Natural State”.
Little Rock Culture Vulture 