Lake Stevens will lose its cowgirl poet.
Nicole Powers, 24, aims to head east as soon as she can hitch her financial wagon to a Montana star.
She’ll pack her guns, chickens, a rooster named Hank and a hound dog.
Living on the expansive plain is the life of her dreams. The young woman grew up in Lake Stevens, where she rode and showed horses.
Powers wears camouflage clothing on Halloween, collects cowboy boots and goes fishing and bow hunting.
She hasn’t killed anything yet with a bow and arrow.
“If I had a rifle, I’d have a truck load of deer,” she said. “Bow hunting is harder.”
She loves photography and the outdoors. It took her a while to settle down to full-time employment.
“I got out of high school and dinked around, not accomplishing much,” Powers said. “I got a job at Whitfields Insurance and decided I needed to become adult-like in nature.”
She found her niche in the writing arena.
“I’ve always felt out of step with the people around me that are my age, and somehow got interested in the West,” she said. “I ran into Mark Hinricksen, who encouraged me to be my inner cowgirl self and I started writing ‘cowgirl poetry.’ ”
I wrote about Hinricksen on April 14, “Sketches keep Montana hometown close to heart.” He also works for Whitfields and grew up in Conrad, Mont.
He encouraged his friend to embrace the western lifestyle.
“Not too many people my age are into the country scene,” Powers said. “I started writing poetry on my lunch break and e-mailed them to Mark. He e-mailed them to friend in Montana.”
Her writing received high praise. One selection was published in the Whoop-Up Days Rodeo brochure.
Here is the published poem:
Big Montana Sky
Fast livin’, and busy streets
This was not the life she wanted to lead
She longed for a slower pace
Something to slow down the days
She wanted wide open spaces
The sight of some unfamiliar faces
The support of a small town
And maybe someday a white wedding gown
She wanted honest love
The kind you find from up above
And a strong man’s touch
But she knew not to go lookin’ for much
She has strong emotions about a permanent vacation she will take
The big move that she will one day make
The choice that will make her daddy cry
To that wide open country under that big Montana sky
Barb Endler with The Independent-Observer in Conrad read the work she received from Hinricksen.
“I knew exactly where it was going to end up,” Endler said. “Nicole’s poem just fit in every aspect. ‘Montana Sky’ is what Whoop-Up is all about.”
She met Powers in June when the Lake Stevens woman attended the rodeo. Endler showed Powers where her work would go in the 48-page brochure.
“She just beamed,” Endler said. “Nicole is a wonderful gal with a bubbly personality. After meeting her in person, I feel that she would be ready for anything that comes her way.”
Powers snapped pictures at sites Hinricksen suggested.
“Conrad felt like home,” she said. “Everyone was super, super friendly.”
The poem about his home state meant a lot to Hinricksen, he said.
“Her poem puts a lump in everyone’s throat when they first read it,” he said. “I have my peeps back there looking for a job for her.”
When the time is right, Powers will trot to Montana.
“I plan to move there someday, and raise a family, when I meet my cowboy.”
Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.
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