Bill would designate state poem
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Legislation introduced today in the Minnesota Senate would designate an official state poem.
Sen. Bruce Anderson, R-Buffalo Township, is proposing the honor for "Minnesota Blue," which was written by Keith Haugen in 1985 as a tribute to the state. In addition to the designation, Anderson's bill would require that a copy of the poem be placed in the Office of the Secretary of State.
Here's the poem:
MINNESOTA BLUE
Minnesota, how I love you
Minnesota, I've been away too long
How I miss your clean fresh air, your lakes and rivers too
How I miss your Minnesota Blue
Do your golden fields of wheat and corn
Still shimmer in the early morn
Waving to the clouds as they drift by
Do moose and bear still rule the earth
In the Red River Valley of my birth
Do the Northern Lights still dance across your sky
Does the North Star still guide you
Do your farmers still provide you
With the way of life that we all learned to share
Do they still follow the Golden Rule
And dress up each week for Sunday School
Do your families still give thanks for living there
Are your skies still free of smoke and haze
Do your old folks still remember days
When your skyline was a grove of Norway pines
Does the North Wind whistle through your trees
Can you still smell wildflowers on the breeze
Do bass and pike still play with fishing lines
Do your children still walk the rails
Or discover hidden Indian trails
Do canoes glide through Minnesota streams
Can you hear the cry of the lonely loon
Do wolves still howl at your full moon
Is Viking Land still Mother Nature's dream
Do you still have dairies and rolling hills
And mines and quarries and flour mills
Do you still brew the best of America's beers
Do bobcats still cry at night
Does snow still fall so soft and white
Do icicles hang like crystal chandeliers
So many of yours have left to roam
But they still call Minnesota home
Like geese that fly above your lakes and wilds
And for every one of your million stars
There's a prairie son who's traveled far
Oh, please remember this Minnesota child.
Minnesota, how I love you
Minnesota, I've been away too long
How I miss your clean fresh air, 10,000 lakes and you
How I miss my Minnesota Blue
Oh, how I miss my Minnesota Blue
Copyright 1985, Keith Haugen
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