Meet JON SEBBA of Valley Winds Chapter

 JON SEBBA has been a UTSPS member on and off since 1997. In 2013 his poetry collection entitled Yossi, Yasser & Other Soldiers was chosen as UTSPS Book of the Year. He tells us…that book prompted by my combat experience in 1967, has given me a new mission in life. I use it to show vets and others survivors of trauma how writing and poetry in particular can help calm the stormy waters of our memories. Jon has recently taken over as chair of the Valley Winds Chapter of UTSPS from Steven Leitch who is our new State UTSPS President. Since Jon spends his winters in Arizona, he is hoping to set up his chapter with virtual meetings which may be the way to go for us during the current pandemic.

 A retired design engineer he loves fishing in the beautiful lakes east of SLC, fishing and writing poetry. He feels that…I have learned much and my poetry has improved thanks to the help and kind critiques of my friends at UTSPS. If one is a good observer, one can find poems anywhere, or more accurately everywhere. This one was hanging out at sunset, near a bridge on the Provo River as it enters Jordanelle Reservoir:

Arcs by Jon Sebba

 Above the splash and ripple damsel-nymphs

dance in sepia tones, dragonflies hesitate

in and out of spider silk traces

dangling from dusty bones

of a rusty bridge arch over the low sun.

 

A lone youth, knee-deep in a pale-beer current,

twitches the rod in his hand,

sends a sunlit spark along a loop

in a wide oval arc that settles on water,

light-as-a-fly.

 

Like a conductor at the philharmonic,

he swings his arm back.          Twist-flick,

the point of light vaults higher and wider,

streaks from hand to hook,

kisses the wet surface

and lingers like a feather for a beat.

 

Suddenly, a spring rainbow

explodes in a splash. 

Vees radiate from the line

 

and race away.

 

He pants and wrestles,

trout twists and turns,

rod bends and bows.

The line sings out. 

 

The rod and reel play until the tired fish concedes.

He draws her to him, cradles the rainbow in water,

eases hook out of her jaw, 

 

admires her sleek lines,

 

then opens his hands. She gives

a tail-flip and smack that sound like, Thank you.

You’re welcome, he murmurs and sighs.

 

Meet MICHAEL SPEARS of Rhyme and Reason Chapter

          Welcome to Michael Spears new President of Rhyme and Reason Chapter and UTSPS Membership Coodinator. He just joined UTSPS in March 2019 and loves the association with his poet friends. Here's some background on him in his own words. "Early life was spent on the north end of the Portland Peninsula, growing up in a "Stand By Me" environment (in the most literal sense).  When Mom found out her three young sons were hopping freight trains and skinny dipping in Triangle Lake, she packed her five children up and moved to Provo.  I thought my life had ended.  

          Learning to love the imagery, I developed an early love for poetry from the rare visits I had with my father, who could quote poems for hours on end.  Army veteran of Vietnam era, graduate of Weber State University and also the University of Utah.  Enjoy reading, especially history and anything anthropological.  Spring to fall is spent with wife Donna in our varied flower gardens and the vegetable garden (we are both licensed pruners and weed pullers).  We have loved growing pumpkins for the grandchildren and now we have a whole new generation of Bumpkins to share them with (they are quickly outnumbering the grandchildren)."  

          How to Make a Memory —m spears 

Take one grandmother
any size
with a welcoming lap
and smiling eyes;
one granddaughter
short or tall
tightly holding
her favorite doll. 

Add a dozen sheets
of paper
two pairs of
safety scissors
several pencils
(with erasers),
a medium amount
of patience,
one kitchen table
or rocking chair
with lots of love
and hugs to share—

Just start cutting
memories
to hang atop
the fireplace
above the mirror
or frame of door,
it really doesn’t matter where.

Meet SUSAN GIBBONS-WOLF of Dixie Poets

Susan Gibbons-Wolf, a St. George resident, recently received word her non-fiction children’s picture book, “P.S. Boats, Around Puget Sound” was a finalist in the 2020 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.  The book, containing “cheerful, rhyming text” and “stunning artwork,” received rave reviews last fall at the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association tradeshow.  The Next Generation Indie Book Awards is the largest international awards program for independent authors and publishers.  Awards are presented by Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group www.IBPPG.com in over 70 categories.  This year’s competition received thousands of entries from all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces.  

Gibbons-Wolf and her husband retired to Saint George two years ago from Washington state.  She is a free-lance writer and studied creative writing at the University of Washington.  She is a member of the Society of Children’s book Writers and Illustrators as well as the Dixie Poet Society.  She joined the Utah State Poetry Society only this year.  Her book is available locally at The Book Bungalow in St. George, on her website www.wolfpublishingllc.com and on Amazon. 

Excerpt from her book 

"P.S. Boats, Around Puget Sound"

“Small and round and

Rather plain,

I’m a helper:

Tugboat’s my name.

Push and tug

And come alongside

Moving big ships

Is my pride.”

Corona Virus POEM by Marleen Bussma

SHE'S COVID-19 FREE by Marleen Bussma
Hear it read at https://www.marleenbussma.com/poems

DEADLINES for the NEW YEAR 2020

Time seems to be going faster and faster. Do want to remind you all that you can still pay your dues for this year $30 and coming up next month deadlines:

1. Feb 1st-Entries due for UTSPS April Awards Festival Contest (See utahpoets.com)

2. Feb 20th-Register for POETRY IN THE PARK-our 11th year in ZION PARK will feature poet ROB CARNEY from UVU on Friday March 6th at Zion Park Lodge 9 am to 3 pm. Only $50 includes free park pass. Free POETRY READING on Th night March 5 at 7pm this year at Hurricane Community Center 60 S 100 W.  https://zionpark.org/event/poetry-in-the-park/ 

3. Feb 15th-Register for REDROCK CREATIVE WRITING SEMINAR on Sat Mar 7th 9 am to 1:30 pm in St. George  $50+  https://redrockwriters.org/seminar_2020_registration. Click flyers below to enlarge.