Oklahoma poet travels to Ireland

Oklahoma rancher and cowgirl poet Debra Coppinger Hill will teach Western poetry and culture in Ireland this summer. <br/><br/>News on 6 reporter Rick Wells went to Chelsea in Rogers County on Monday to

Monday, June 6th 2005, 10:06 am

By: News On 6

Oklahoma rancher and cowgirl poet Debra Coppinger Hill will teach Western poetry and culture in Ireland this summer.

News on 6 reporter Rick Wells went to Chelsea in Rogers County on Monday to talk with her about her poetry and her trip to Ireland.

Itâ€™s a lazy day at the 4DH Ranch in Rogers County, but Debra Coppinger Hill the cowgirl poet is very excited, she and three of her colleagues are headed to Ireland. "We're all a nervous wreck one or the other of us will call the other and say, we're going to Ireland."

They will teach Western poetry and culture at the Gerard Mantley Hopkins Institute. "We'll have students from Japan, Germany and Africa, coming to learn poetry." They'll all be courteous about our cowboy hats, so she had this one made special for the trip. "It's an Aztec hat from Scottsdale Arizona; they built that hat specifically for me to wear to Ireland."

The poetry will be especially good from under an impressive hat. She does alot of her writing under an old mulberry tree. "I come out here in the mornings when it's still cool." There's lots to write about, she raises horses and cattle. There are dogs and cats and her two kids and she's a cancer survivor recovery time from four surgeries have given her lots of time to write and reflect. "I've written since I was 8 years old. Written about horses, cows, dogs and people."

So if the students over in Ireland are interested in cowboys or the West or just life, all they have to do is listen. â€œSo I close my eyes in trust and walk and listen to the horses talk."

Debra also plays to do some sight seeing while she's in Ireland. She wants to find Coppinger Castle where many of her ancestors came from.