On Passing Through Galesburg, Illinois

"reflecting on Sandburg"

Today I will go to Remembrance

Rock, bow my thoughts  

To the stacker of wheat, 

Everyman’s sturdy shouldered troubadour. 

Under the harsh heat of a harvest sun 

The plain spoken truths 

Of the wild red leaves 

Summon the senses to stand firm, 

To fear nothing save the shame 

Of slipping a neck from the noose, 

Tucking tail from the fight 

Everyman owes to the cause 

Of Equality. To run free 

One must run the gauntlet 

Against the villainous mob, 

Ever ready to lay down for what 

By nature we know to be 

Our one true natural right: 

Each and every man is born 

To be thy own natural self.  

Ken e Bujold

Reviews

[Relic]

Strength, nature, and freedom stand out to me in this. I'm not familiar with Sandburg's works although I've heard his name. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought he himself wrote this. Great writing.

[Chris Shaw]

Great piece of writing Ken. Drawn to the imagery but also the message. The fight for freedom and equality has been a harsh one. It continues. Sandburg is not a poet I know. Time to find out more.

Chris

[Ken e Bujold]

Sandburg is American working class poet of the first half of 20th century. What stands him apart from most of his peers was his formative yrs when he struggled through any number of hellish occupations. Never ever lost his sense of life's hard aches.

[Chris Shaw]

Thanks Ken. Appreciated.

[W. Barrett Munn]

Another awesome display of your talent that makes the rest of us wonder why we try because we won't catch up. One other comment sent in a message.

Winston

[Stuart Munro]

I know nothing about poetry Ken , except I know it uses words ,lol, your poetry I find very interesting to read , and the subject is interesting too Of your poems ,
Forgot to say , and thanks for asking , I’m ok

[emmajoygreen]

Strangely calm words that nonetheless hold thoughts of a fierce battle for liberty, from which the urge to walk straight or - if needs be, a bent back, whatever the fight decreed:

'By nature we know to be - Our one true natural right: - Each and every man is born - To be thy own natural self.'

A memorable, finely written poem.

[Ken e Bujold]

thanks emma. this is in the vein of, and a tribute to the great american poet Carl Sandburg. of late i find myself reflecting quite a bit on the poets of my youth. those writers who not only inspired me to take up the task of writing for beauty's sake, but also more importantly (at least to me) to stand up for the everyman. Of the Americans Sandburg has always been the light when it comes to working class poets. Whitman (fave of most Americans) was more of a tramp (great writer, but a vagabond at heart, his working class poems always strike me as somewhat of an idler at heart, whereas Sandburg was the real deal. He wrote of getting hands dirty, backs broken because he spent his youth doing the rough work of a laboring man.)
Now in my dottering days, my sense of where I came from seems to grow stronger with each day.
Glad you enjoyed the poem. The last verse could be my manifesto! to each our natural selves we must be

Ken