Inside a stone-built home on East Third Avenue, 50 years of rhyming gems quietly rest, bound in an unrenowned book. The home, adorned with lace, fine china, crystal chandeliers, black-and-white photographs and various antique trinkets, belongs to Ramona Cugnini, a Durango poet.
Cugnini, 84, has been writing poems since she was about 10 but waited until January to officially release her work to the public.
In her newly published book of poetry, Loveknots to Lariats, she leaves behind a legacy – a lifetime of poems ranging from love and life to the Old West.
Her love of poetry began at a tender age. At family gatherings she would recite poems she’d memorized.
Cugnini recalled her favorite poem, a Civil War story called “Kentucky Belle.”
“It was long, and it was good,” she said. “It was history.”
She didn’t begin her serious writing until about the 1960s, when she’d reached her 30s. For the next 50 years, she wrote on and off.
Her inspiration varies.
Sometimes she will come up with ideas while washing dishes or doing other miscellaneous chores. Some of her poems are inspired by life events, while others are creative works of fiction, she said.
A poem titled “A Legend in His Time” is dedicated to her late husband, Pat Cugnini. It describes his passion and agility for cattle ranching. He was a true cowboy, she said.
One of her favorite love poems?
“Moving Sale,” a poem about getting rid of heartbreak and memories. An excerpt:
“Please put me through to classified, I’d like to place an ad.
“There’s going to be a moving sale, on lonely street near sad.
“I have some old fond memories from which I’d like to part.
“Some shattered hopes and faded dreams and slightly broken heart.”
This, however, is not Cugnini’s first book.
She independently published and copyrighted a book of poetry in 1986 titled Rhymona’s Rhymes. It was not available for purchase. The book was intended for family and friends.
Her new book has some of those poems and many more, she said.
Cugnini began reading her poems to neighbors Fred and Diane Wildfang, and they convinced her to share her poetry, she said. Fred Wildfang, a published author himself, encouraged Cugnini to publish.
Wildfang has written several historical books throughout the years, including one called La Plata: Tri-Cultural Traditions in the Upper San Juan Basin (Voices of America), which profiles several of the county’s prominent families.
The Harris family, Ramona’s side of the family, has been ranching in the area for several generations, Wildfang said. She married a well-known cattleman, Pat Cugnini. His family also is a prominent family in the area, he said.
The Wildfangs, who own the Rochester Hotel, have lived next door to Cugnini for 10 years, and in that time, their friendship has grown.
“She’s been writing for all of her life. She’s a real cowgirl,” he said.
The Wildfangs convinced her to read at the Cowboy Poetry Festival at the Rochester, and she’s been doing so the last two years.
Wildfang enjoys the cowboy genre of Cugnini’s poetry.
“She also has a great sense of humor,” he said. There’s usually a twist toward the end of the poem.”
When Cugnini expressed interest in writing a book, he helped her find an independent publishing company.
“She got it done, and it looks pretty good,” he said.
Others helped, too.
Steve Harris, Cugnini’s nephew, created the book’s cover illustration. The drawing is of a Stetson cowboy hat that belonged to Cugnini’s father.
In hopes that it won’t always be so unknown, she plans to start marketing her book.
It soon will be available at Maria’s Bookshop, she said. She also believes the book might be available at the Rochester Hotel because the Wildfangs owe her for coercing her into publishing it, she joked.
The book of poetry is available on Amazon.com. However, if you’d like to meet the author herself, she has several copies available for sale in her home. Cugnini can be reached at 247-2300.
She said there’s a possibility of another publication “if I live long enough.” She has written five more poems since her book published.
“I continue to write. I enjoy it,” Cugnini said.
vguthrie@durangoherald.com
