ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) -
A bill was introduced by Minnesota State Sen. Bruce Anderson (R-Buffalo) to recognize Cordell Keith Haugen's "Minnesota Blue" as the official state poem.
Minnesota has a long list of official state symbols:
Bird: Loon
Butterfly: Monarch
Drink: Milk
Fish: Walleye
Flower: Ladyslipper
Fruit: Honeycrisp apple
Gemstone: Lake Superior agate
Grain: Wild rice
Muffin: Blueberry
Mushroom: Morel
Sport: Hockey
Tree: Norway pine
Should we add a poem to the list?
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
