meeting mr lincoln here in springfield that is to say the one in illinoisnot a massachusetts town on the eastern seaboard no the one in illinois where vachel lindsay imagined the president walked at midnight well he does as I can witness only a week ago as I remember yes early in april – I […]
John Knoepfle
Posted inOpinion
A poem for All Hallow’s Eve
1 all hallows eve sequence how to cope with that word halloweena time before the day beforea time for welcoming a healthy hoursomething wholesome a pleasing scentlike bread baking in the oven someone with flour on her handsor her forehead where she brushed the hairaway from her brown eyes a healing for a bruised body […]
Posted inArts & Culture
for carol manley
at four o’clock the birds in the gardenattend to their psalmsit is that sort of daybeginning with a consecrated hour overcast perhaps a weekend saturdaywe will go to the farmers’ marketthis morning later what to find thereall that our far flung neighborshave drawn from this rich black earthour central illinois legacy what am I sayingall […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Giving a voice to our grief
Untitled Document Harry Mark Petrakis’ newest collection consists of eight short stories and a novella. The short stories are vintage Petrakis, rooted in Chicago’s Greek community, spare and eloquent in the telling — and often with surprising endings. In “Beauty’s Daughter,” which takes place on Halsted Street, a mother’s brief happiness with a lover changes […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Knoepfle 12-30-04
Readers, it is a good time for saying goodbye. I have enjoyed being here these many months, but I have so many other things I want to do and who knows the time may be short for doing them. So I leave you with lines from Chinkapin Oak about First Night in 1995. — John […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Knoepfle 12-23-04
lighting the christmas tree in the auburn square this tree will be our own rising star it will sparkle even if there are clouds in the sky this soft-needled fir glowing with light the greens blues reds the yellows all the good colors these tinsel cheers in a dark evening the winter wearing to […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Knoepfle 12-16-04
walking in snow shutting down time to walk in the snow make footprints where there are none only the crooked marks of the dogs mooch or joe the best of dogs it is good coming down this slope the dogs have been buried how long now oh these many years today the leafless trees shout […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Knoepfle 12-9-04
something about love love is like a bowlso when you break itglue it togetherif it won’t hold waterfill it with apples © John Knoepfle 2004
Posted inArts & Culture
Knoepfle 12-2-04
first day of the month sleet rain in buckets wind to knock out your teeth showers of ice then the snow snatches the house water in the basement cold shocking the windows even the christmas lights wonder what happened now in the morning you scrape the car unlock the left front door with a hair […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Knoepfle 11-25-04
november proverb well I do believepie are triangledand a turkey with one leggets more to the gobblethan a three sided square © John Knoepfle 2004
Posted inArts & Culture
Knoepfle 11-18-04
writing from the hospital the erratic heart off center slightly unbalanced yes and that is like the rest of the world this is so strange the heart wandering alone everything so quiet © John Knoepfle 2004
Posted inArts & Culture
Knoepfle 11-11-04
now and winter coming on rain all day today heavy downpours bad day for street people and this on all hallows too what happened yesterday well there was a bad flight had us sucking in our bellies but the pilot corrected his engine and we survived perhaps like the nation pray god we come along […]
