No prison can hold me; no hand or leg irons or steel locks can shackle me. No ropes or chains can keep me from my freedom.” Harry Houdini We were there the day Harry Houdini bound himself in tons of chains and ropes. He waved to us, we cheered, and, last seen, he sank into the cold unknown with all our hopes. We gathered with friends and naysayers, too, murmured together, moved closer to know more of the bind Harry put himself through, yet feared to imagine the dangers below. When he rose from the depths, free from dire straits, we breathed his relief as we would a brother’s, then we turned to go home dragging the weights we wore to the shore and told each other if Harry Houdini can beat the odds, if Harry Houdini knows a few tricks, if Harry Houdini can challenge the gods, there’s always a way to get out of a fix. |
AuthorNancy Harris McLelland taught creative writing, composition, and literature for over twenty years and Conducted writing workshops for the Western Folklife Center, Great Basin College , and the Great Basin Writing Project . An Elko County native with a background in ranching. McLelland has presented her "Poems from Tuscarora" Both at daytime and evening events at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko. Her essay, "Border Lands: Cowboy Poetry and the Literary Canon" is in the anthology Cowboy Poetry Matters . Categories |