Saga of the Sanpitch Volume 13, 1981 - Sanpete County

INDIAN CAMP
Bonny Nielson Dahlsrud
Box 195
Salina, Utah 84654
Non-Professional Division, Second Place Poetry
The crouching, chanting, brown-skinned, women pause
To brush back heavy strands of dusted hair.
One dabs stained quills on weathered skins and draws
In savage style. Another mends a tear
In beaded moccasins. Sun dries raw meat,
Rough tanning hides, and cracks the thirsty ground.
Some small boys gallop through sagebrush and heat,
Loud war whoops mimicking the eerie sound
Of battles hell designed. A withered chief
Once young, once proud, sits silent, head bent low.
He does not feel the scorching sun, just grief
And yesteryears. Some skulls of buffalo
Support the babies strapped to boards, hands curled.
Primitive cradles — A primitive world.
Source: Heart Throbs of the West, by Mrs. Kate B. Garter (Excerpts from different Indian camp scenes)
SANPETE SUMMER
Cindy Nielson
186 West 200 North
Manti, Utah 84642
Non-Professional Division, Honorable Mention Poetry
The sun beats down upon the field -
Shrinks water as it passes by
In the irrigation ditch
Beneath the cloudless sky.
No breath of wind with welcome cool;
Heat rays arise from the parched ground.
The farmer, in his face, concern
Scans helplessly his crops around.
Not long and it will be too late;
Not long, the summer's work for naught.
(An earlier drought two years ago
Though over is not yet forgot.)
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