Episode Details

In this episode of The Art Box, we sit down with a 5th-generation Utah rancher, devoted husband, father, grandfather, and cowboy poet. He writes the stories of those who came before him and the working ranch families of today, determined to keep their lives, struggles, humor, and grit alive through verse.

Inspired in 1983 after hearing cowboy poet Scott McKendrick recite at his high school, he discovered that poetry wasn’t just something from the past, it was still riding the range. His poems are born after long days in the saddle, cold nights helping heifers calve, or quiet mountain sunrises. Some come easy. Others take the same hard work as ranching itself.

Rooted in the West Desert and Great Basin, his writing carries deep gratitude, fierce advocacy for agriculture, and a willingness to tackle hard subjects, loss, family struggles, and the realities facing American ranchers. “If I do my job right,” he says, “you won’t hear my poems, you’ll feel ’em.”

We talk about stepping outside comfort zones, keeping faith at the center, collaborating with musicians like Brenn Hill and others, and why poetry isn’t a contest, it’s connection. It’s therapy. It’s life.

This conversation is about heritage, humility, and honoring the sacred in everyday moments.

And yes — you’ll feel it.

For Ben's book of poetry drop him an email at: westdesertpoetry@gmail.com