Abraham Lincoln walks in the morning

GUESTWORK | John Knoepfle

Meeting Mr Lincoln

here in springfield that is to say the one in illinois not 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 met him on sixth street just to the south where the old capitol is it was in the morning though will mrs lincoln be having her strawberry levee soon I said just to say something he said why yes but you know you have to wait on the season yes you have to know where the strawberries are growing and when it is time for picking them yes he said thoughtfully you have to know when they are ready and when they are not

I wished him the best of times this one moment and forever he touched the brim of his hat then and said goodbye with a smile

I thought he might be going for a roll call or a vote sequestered in the capitol senate or perhaps to tell country stories all afternoon in his law office but when I turned to wave goodbye to this great man I knew would be president one day no one walked the streets that cold morning in springfield

About the author John Knoepfle is the author of 17 books of poetry, as well as an autobiography and other prose works. His most recent book, Shadows and Starlight, was published by Indian Paintbrush Poets in 2012. Currently, he likes to begin the day by striking lines on his fractious computer. These sometimes become poems. He is a professor emeritus of literature at University of Illinois Springfield. His awards include the 2012 Mayor’s Award for the Arts, given by the Springfield Area Arts Council.

A Pacific theater veteran of World War II, Knoepfle began writing in the 1940s. His poetry focuses on what he sees around him in the Midwest. He favors the poetry of ordinary speech, storytelling and local history. He regularly attends Illinois State Museum lectures on archaeology and history. At 91, he is preoccupied with being 91 and writes about this.

Knoepfle has four children and four grandchildren and lives with his wife, Peggy, in the village of Jerome.