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On Christmas Eve in nineteen thirty-three,
a friendly visitor in Willoughby*
became the center of a mystery
of a bizarre and shocking tragedy .
 
Bystanders said this girl, all dressed in blue—
before they could react—just walked onto
the railroad tracks, of which she had clear view.
Why did she die, this girl just passing through?

Attempts to learn her name were all in vain.
Loose coins and a ticket for the train
to Corry** in her purse did not explain
who she WAS. An enigma, she’d remain.

Townspeople pooled their money to provide
a funeral. She was identified
as “girl in blue.” Their conscience is their guide;
fresh flowers for her grave are still supplied.

The caring citizens of Willoughby 
would not find out till nineteen ninety-three
the tragic girl in blue’s identity.
That ticket in her purse became the key.

The Corry records proved the family
of Josephine Klimczak owned property
in Warren County. Though the mystery
was solved. “The girl in blue,” she’ll always be.

Of those three thousand locals who went to
that funeral, there would be very few             
still living when discovery of who
she was came out—that unique girl in blue.


Posted August 2019

Date: December 8, 2019
Contest Title: Blue Dress Poetry Contest       placed 8th (of ten)
Sponsor: Anthony Slausin


March 28, 2023
entered in Julia Ward's Visitor Poetry Contest

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