Share
As writers, stories often unfold between the lines.
Poet Drew Myron put to pen a feeling many utility storytellers share. As a freelance writer for Hood River Electric & Internet Cooperative and Wasco Electric Cooperative, Drew spends a lot of time driving across rural Oregon to find and share stories. We hope you enjoy this poem about her story, originally published on her blog.
1.
So much of my writing life is the drive to the story not yet told.
Backroads and hillsides, wide sky and shifting light. Across highway and gravel, through fields and farms, bends and turns, my mind winding with anticipation.
2.
I arrive and smile.
Tell me your story, I say without saying. I listen and nod, take too many notes. I will tuck your words in my ribs, a small cage of secrets, admissions and sometimes tears.
I see you, I say without saying.
3.
On the drive home, I’ll carry a weight. The landscape is immense, and in this largeness I am suddenly small.
How to contain this beauty and truth?
I will snap photo after photo. But I cannot capture the quiet, the wind through fields, the fresh crop, the collective sigh.
4.
The road is long and the mind races, spools, finally slows.
Everything is brightness and beauty. In the green field beneath the blue sky, I both live in, and stand outside, the moment.
I was always writing.
We asked Drew to share a few recent stories she enjoyed writing. Here’s her lede and a link to three recent stories in Ruralite magazine.
“On a cold winter day, Clare Boland and Brooke Spaulding sip memories of summer.” A Cup of Nourishment, February 2023
“Shannon Red Cloud vividly recalls her moment of transformation.”From Addiction to Ahhhhhh!, December 2022
“Marty Hansen hears every squeak and squawk, every croak and crack. He is not daunted.” The Sounds of Song, January 2023
Want to read more stories from your peers?
You can read examples from broadband service providers and telephone cooperatives in the online Rural Telco Magazine archives. Selected local page features from Ruralite, Florida Currents, Currents, Louisiana Country and Enchantment magazines are emailed to Utility Pioneers who use our magazine solutions.
What stories are you excited to tell?
Share your feature ideas below, or send them to hello@pioneer.coop and we may feature them on our blog!