By Lee Gurga
Here is a piece by Martha Vertreace-Doody from her new series of poems on Elizabeth
Caldwell Smith, wife of Joseph Duncan, the sixth governor of Illinois.
Northern Cross Railroad, 1838
Engineer Fields coaxes a crochety locomotive, “Rogers,”
from Meredosia to Morgan City,
tracks laid with his magic pen filled with State funds
for ink—
so his enemies say
who swear this one-term governor empties our pockets.
His plan: more cities–
between Quincy on the Mississippi through Clayton,
Mount Sterling, Meredosia,
Jacksonville, Springfield, Decatur, Danville,
the Illinois-Indiana border–
the names crack on my tongue like wheels
breaking my dream–
a quilt of prairies and cities stitched by roads
of flat iron, timbers.
His goal–to answer a second call to serve.
Mine? I want to see Illiopolis–
better yet–the Town of Chicago
rising out of Great Lake Michigan’s waves.
— Martha Vertreace-Doody
Local poets were writing about contemporary events in the Sangamo
Journal as early as the 1830s. People’s Poetry wants you to share your thoughts
on what’s happening in Springfield today–in poetic form. Poems on any subject
will be considered, but ones that deal with issues of local interest are encouraged.
Send yours to poetry editor Lee Gurga, P.O. Box 662, Lincoln, IL 62656, or to
gurga@ccaonline.com with “Bards of
the Sangamo” in the subject line. (Please limit your submissions to poems of
14 lines or less.)
This article appears in Sep 18-24, 2003.
