Biography
Biography
Virgil Chabre was born in Rock Springs, Wyoming. The son of a coal miner. The Rock Springs area is a mining community and Virgil spent his first years in a mining camp, Dines, which was located approximately ten miles north of Rock Springs. Dines was a mining camp where the mining company owned the houses, school, company store and all other aspects of life. The mining company had complete control over the miners. There was no running water in the houses and the bathroom was an outhouse out in the back of the house. He later moved to Rock Springs on Ridge Avenue and had the luxury of running water and plumbing facilities. He survived eight years of a Catholic School and Graduated from Rock Springs High School. He graduated from the University of Wyoming. He spent some of his time 1600 feet underground in a trona mine while in Wyoming. He moved to Arizona and continued his education and became a teacher. He taught Social Studies and Creative Writing in junior high and high school as well as coaching several sports. He established a successful Poetry Club at the school. He begin writing poetry in high school and continues his writing in Arizona today.
Mitchell Peak
Mitchell Peak, Wyoming
Mitchell Peak was named after Finis Mitchell a mentor of Virgil Chabre. It is one of the few mountains to be named after an individual while that individual was still alive. Most mountains are named posthumously. Finis was a renowned author , environmentalist, and mountain climber. Finis would never place himself above the earth that he walked upon. The earth was very important to Finis and he believed it should be treated with respect and dignity. He dedicated much of his time to insure the mountains of Wyoming would be shared by all mankind.
Virgil Chabre
PUBLICATIONS
His poems have been published in Deros, Manna, Poetica Magazine, Prophetic Voices, Publishing 9, San Fernando Poetry Journal, The Archer, The Professional Poet, The Pub, The Power, Shadows of the Mind, Second Thoughts, Reach for the Stars, Poems for All Seasons, The American Muse, Taurus, New Poets of the American West and many other poetry journals and books.
Poems
Cold Weather
Cold weather moves in
And hesitates
Around us
Snowshoe rabbits scurry about
Looking somewhat bewildered
Antelope moving slow
Unable to glide through
The deep snow
Cars communicating
Through jumper cables
Giving life
Below zero
Arizona Desert
He came in from the desert
Working in the hot sun
Has its hazards
He had two rattlesnake bites
In three days
Walking with a limp
He said more people die from bee stings
Than rattlesnake bites in Arizona
Tomorrow he would be
Back in the desert
Absorbing the hot sun
Hoping that there are no bees
In the air
One Arm Coming Down
For: Aron Ralston
Rock climbing is never easy
It takes strength
And determination
The ability to use all limbs
Feet
Hands
Arms
Legs
Your destiny is in
The determination you have to survive
Aron Ralston had that determination
As he returned from his climb
Leaving part of himself behind
Lodged inside a rock
One arm coming down
Park Avenue
It was a house on Park Avenue
A place that had its own issues
There were many stories that
Took place inside the house
Some will be retold
And some are better
Left in the past
I met Rick there
Student teaching in a quiet
Wyoming town
A house full of teachers
Owned by a teacher
Rick was an artist
One of a kind
Yet
There was something untold
About this house
That would haunt us at the time
And continue to haunt us
As we think about the house today
Rick operating a comic book place
Me writing poetry
Joined with the mysterious house
We left behind
Mining Camp Blues
I was born into
The mining camps of Wyoming
Dines, Winton, and others
Dotted specs on the countryside
Sagebrush and tumbleweeds
Were are neighbors
No running water
Tracks in the snow
Led the way to the outhouse out back
Company school
Company houses
Company store
Dusty roads
Coal burning to keep the house warm
Ice box waiting
For a delivery of ice
Milk delivered on our doorstep
Cardboard inside
Hand me down shoes
Kept my feet
Out of the weather
It was the mining camp blues
Ridge Avenue Revisited (The House I Grew Up In)
It was just a drive
Looking at Wyoming
Through a window
Of the past
Ridge Avenue
The place where it began
Ridge Avenue
The place where it ended
The cemetery of lost souls
behind our house
Bones in the ground
Trying to rise up
To face a day from the past
The potholes in the road
Slowing down any
Fast movement
Empty buildings
Vacant lots
Dust covering roads
The wind
And clouds in the sky
Approaching the first
Day of summer