Long Whittier Poems

"Phew! got here in time to catch The Glacier Discovery Train. This journey is to be seen
to be believed. I am in Anchorage, Alaska. I am so out of breath running to the station.
Right, that's...

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Okay.......so you winked at me....I winked back......!

Like your art work........very cool. Love to paint and draw myself....although have 
been on a self imposed sabatical for the past year.........any interest?

Sylvia      ...

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William Harrison Hardy

1823 - 1906
 

I believe a fair introduction is in order here.
Not that a handshake from me could ever take place anytime soon.
I was Captain Bill Hardy:
Proud Indian fighter!
And celebrated toll road builder!
I...

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Seth S. Gidley

1832-1916

I will never forget the rain that winter,
And the landslide that still stains my grave.
An evil cursed wind it was, 
Lacerating the drenched cliffs 
And descending gullies of Rubio Canyon,
With wailing sheets of...

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Maria Flores
1878-1923

Si, he was muy macho!
I was the last to see him.
Before Senor White sealed his body for eternity,
Inside the cheapest casket I had ever seen!
And I was working there, for White-Emerson,
From the time I...

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George W. Towne

1847 – 1899

From Iowa I came by restless wagon train.
From the mid-west I arrived 
With satchel and silken scalp still intact.
I read Proverbs and Ecclesiastes to pass the time.
I read the Gospels of...

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Leah See

1817 – 1897

I lived 80 long years.
Struggling with sickness and deprivation.
Toiling like a slave
In the mad heat of 80 summers
And the bone-numbing cold of 79 winters.
Striving and straining for happiness and earthly fulfillment.
No man...

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Fireflies’ Prelude
By Stacy Savage (Indiana)

The sun surrenders
To the sky
As the moon awaits
With his winking eye

To begin his routine
In the rosy wake
So the sun may take
Her needed break.

Fireflies come
And bid adieu
In their evening performance,
Right on cue,

Above...

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Dennis Cummings

1844-1920

To my friends of the 41st Infantry!

My men, my brave brothers from Wisconsin, are invited!

Invited RSVP to my domesticated, but dignified digs

On south Milton Street in Whittier town,

There, above the tracks of the Southern...

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We have no way of knowing what our life would have been like…
it’s impossible to do the math…
If we had made different decisions…if we had chosen different paths:

They loved each other when they were younger…
They...

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Make for the corner, Fresno-Whittier
(there’s neighborhoods a whole lot prettier):
it’s probably ten-ninety-six,
but don’t draw weapons – that’s a Nix.
The man before you’s not a “perp”,
so don’t come on like Wyatt Earp.

Latina (claims she’s J-Lo’s cousin)
talking...

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James McKee Rogers

1836 – 1900


I offer up this epitaph as an ode instead,
An ode of love, affection and gratitude
To Whittier, my true home away from my one true home.
I dedicate this plain and humble song
To...

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Catherine Bryan
1838-1918

Thy swan song will be kept short, for thou
And ye, faithful friends of Whittier’s Quaker enclave,
In stout shock, thy anger scolds the town,
For ye know, in heart and soul, 
Thee and this old maid...

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Amanda Thing

1829 - 1918

BF and me
We rode into this muddy enclave,
This Quaker paradise high on an ever-descending hill
In March of ‘87
With Sunshine, our roan mare,
And a wagon full of old belongings and new hopes.
I recall...

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John Doe
Buried 1913  (estimated age 35)


When Death opened its revolving door,
And pulled my screaming soul in, 
I found out the truth.
So, here it is fellow citizens of Whittier town,
Both known and unknown,
From John Doe,...

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"For all sad words of tongue and pen,
 the saddest are these, 'It might have been'."              
     ...

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From Cabin Boy To Grateful Recollections By Old Sailor

Kindness, heart and deep joy, as I remember you
I child, a mere boy, innocent without a clue.
Your attention and love, a blessing warm and true
In Heaven far...

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The Silence

We were on that school bus, 
a big yellow one with black letters on its sides,
spelling out Whittier Union, and you and I sat next to each other 
talking, arguing and giggling, you not...

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Frank Osgood
1870-1919

I was the great wanderlust of Whittier!
From 1890 until my last days,
I followed my nose, 
And other body appendages,
To distant earthly destinations, 
Both sensational and disgusting,
From the calm tranquility of a secure home,
To the...

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Tillie Lydston

1843 – 1905

I was forty six
When I first saw the hills.
Those most magical eastern hills of my home.
I loved Whittier as my mother
And it saddens me I can’t be there again.
I left behind family...

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Edwardo Badia
1856-1914

That low bred confidence man!
That snooking swindler who took me for a fool.
“Hey Gregg, you thief!
You owe me still, even as I rot here,
Regrettably ensconced inside this bursting old boneyard, 
Final resting grounds of...

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Cyrus Neff
1842-1914

You will never find me and the missus, 
Not back here amongst the roots and the scrubs!
We are among the forgotten dead of Mt. Olive Cemetery!
Our graves have disappeared, completely
Eaten away by time and...

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Viola Fuller

1879 – 1909

For it is written in solemn Chinese ideography,
That two women under one roof spells trouble.
For indeed my life found trouble
And death quite early due to influenza.
I spent my leisure hours in China...

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In my youth I was completely engrossed,
By poetry along the byways nailed to a post!
It wasn't composed by John Greenleaf Whittier;
No, the authors were much more wittier!
I speak of Burma Shave signs once all the...

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Mary Yelvington
1876-1910

George Towne, now there was a man;
Handsome as the devil; 
Strong as a bougainvillea vine.
And married to the redoubtable Fannie Towne,
Town shill, and occasional teetotaler of the dry brew!
Ol’ Fannie was oblivious to the...

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