Show UTAH VERSE A column featuring poems by utah writers extends a hand to I 1 all aspiring poets contributions published or unpublished are to be sent to our poetry editor anna prince redd 1076 east center st provo utah all manuscripts should if possible be typewritten single spaced for long and double spaced for shorter poems on good grade type paper and a self addressed stamped envelope enclosed for the return of unaccepted marius manuscripts cr apts no payment will be made on either amateur or professional poetry printed in this column prairie pioneer by cleone Af montgomery A wanderer of lonely trails he found primeval prairie where no man before had built a hearth or turned the sod here he could follow no familiar plan of seeding time and harvest but must learn new ways to wrest a crop from alien soil that seldom knew the blessed touch of rain and here with scanty recompense for bitter toil he made his home the land was niggardly no trees no springs and barren draws to show where rivers once had greened the plain the man dug deep and tapped a subterranean flow of precious water found a constant friend companion helper in the ever moving air the wind brou brought zd ht music for his solitude infrequent ent clouds to ease the summers glare and scent of strange far distant growing things he harnessed this unfailing wind and made it draw his water serve his need sometimes the wind rebelled burnt shackles laid A mill in ruins dimmed the sky with dust came down in biting winter blizzards then repentant brought spring rain and turned the wheels the cycling years went by and many men set plow to many acres wrenched too far from natures plan this grassy sod grown gray the man beheld the wind no longer friend but mocking demon blot the light of day with black dust blizzards root from prairie loam his crops his trees his faith and hope his home cleone montgomery poetry editor for THE UTAH magazine salt lake city utah is an established utah writer she has been publishing for years both in the state and in national markets the poem above won third place in the league of western writers poetry contest last year this is a league that includes all the western states with headquarters at san francisco mrs montgomery is a member of the salt lake chapter league of utah writers at the present time her poem PRAIRIE PIONEERS should find an answering response in the hearts of san juan arid farm residents and in in the great region of the dust bowl the more fortunate who have water for irrigation will perhaps feel a deeper sympathy a richer understanding of all farm people for having read these lines ANNA PRINCE REDD |