Inside Sandzen Spring 06

INSIDE SANDZÉN

POEMS FROM THE ARCHIVES.

In addition to letters, poems are also included in the Gallery Archives. The death of Birger Sandzén on June 19, 1954, occasioned many grateful and happy memories along with strong emotions, some of which were conveyed through original poetry.

This poem, written and mailed from Boulder, Colorado, by John F. Barker on June 23, 1954, is followed on the same sheet by a handwritten note: "With all my love to you, my friends, for God has so blessed us all that he was among us. John F. Barker."

"The Barker Homestead" is one of Birger Sandzén 's lithographs, and the homestead itself is identified in northern Saline County, Kansas. Although John was obviously a good friend, biographical information about him and his family is lacking. Anyone with such information is invited to contribute it to the Archives.

Two letters concerning this poem are in the files. The first is a two-page letter, dated July 1, 1954, whose heart lies in this paragraph:

"I want to thank you for sending the telegram. It made me feel important to you, and the Sandzéns all, for a number of years, have been important to me. After it came that morning, I went out and talked it over with the roses and the corn flowers and the single stalk of delphinium; and then I wrote the poem. I hope it conveyed in part, at least, the depth of my thinking.

On July 27, 1954, he wrote to Margaret and Pelham Greenough: "I want to thank you for your letter of appreciation for my poem. It made me feel good to know that it was received exactly as I wanted it to be."

In Memoriam

The leaves of the giant cotton wood are still,
Tired toward evening;
And the shadowed hills close gently
With the sky above the pool
In double contemplation,
A deeper prayer, an adoration---

That communion of the hills and sky,
The wind and the giant tree
In the pool at the cool of the day.

And after prayer, I'll sleep
Under the folds of the dark,
Sure of a richer color in
The first, new eastern light,
Sure that the damp dawn wind will ring
A sweeter chime in the shimmering leaves.
But just now hangs
A lantern star above the line of the hill,
And all the leaves of the cotton woods are still.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Much more concerning these letters, as well as poems by Jessie Lofgren Kraft and Kirke Field Mechem, with additional information concerning these authors and other letters from the Archives, is found in the Spring 2006 Gallery Notes, distributed to all members of the Gallery.