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Show Company in New Mexico, Yula learned that Mrs. Farr knew Kiskaddon's illustrator, Catherine Fields. This renewed her interest and led her to memorize several poems, which she now is frequently asked to recite at local weddings, funerals and community celebrations at her home in southwestern Utah's Escalante Valley. Writing poetry was also something Yula started after marriage. Over the years, writing verses on envelopes or scraps of paper became her way of responding to life's joys, irritations or misfortunes. The process of raising a family of nine children and two grandchildren and of being a caring friend to her neighbors has provided subject matter for many poems, as have her strong feelings of patriotism and individualism. A nostalgia for the old-time west, themes reflecting political and environmental conservatism, as well as tributes to friends and family are evident in her work. Yula also draws western illustrations, an interest and talent she inherited from her father. She liberally illustrates both the envelope and contents of all of her correspondence and frequently includes drawings within the text of her poems. She draws both Christmas cards and western Get Well cards, often composing personalized verses for the recipient. Her ability in visual art has recently expanded into funeral arrangements which she creates from local vegetation and old farming or ranching paraphernalia. Like her Danish grandfather, Hans Peter Iverson, Yula communicates whatever she considers to be of interest and value by composing verse. Likewise, her middle son, Matthew, has also found poetry to be an important means of self-expression. Although several of her political poems and illustrations have been published in a local newspaper and she routinely uses poetic form in both personal and business letters, Yula's work is generally produced for a small audience of friends and family. Yet, whatever the audience or even the subject, her work always reflects a uniquely western view of the world-a view which represents both Yula's cultural heritage and her chosen life. wy • Cowboy Poetry From Utah 41 |