Saturday, January 9, 2010

palestine


Albuquerque 1910



Palestine, against
the furnace, cursed:
God, this hellish air
has made for worse.

Blows hot and fierce,
worm that will not die;
pierced those born,
but cannot keep.

Thirsty for
his Hoosier plow,
brave green fields,
mending springs
that bubble deep.

Corn stalks beckon,
wave in breeze,
flax hair maidens,
call retreat

over ladder back
iron tracks,
to plant his son
in their cool black sod.



willow, 2009



My great-great grandfather, Palestine, (Isn't that the greatest
name?) moved his family from Indiana to the dry climate of
Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1910, in an effort to save his handsome
25 year old son, Guy, ill with tuberculosis. When all hope for
recovery was lost, the family returned to Howard County, Indiana,
where sadly, Guy died on March 16, 1913. He was an avid
photographer, as you can see in his portrait below, following in the
footsteps of his father and grandfather.
.
Palestine and Mary, Guy's parents, are in the above photo, on the
left, taken in Albuquerque, 1910.
.


Guy Hanna, self portrait




For more Sepia Saturday participants click [HERE].

85 comments:

  1. Palestine is a well cool name! Plus Guy has the looks of a movie star!

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  2. Absolutely first rate post Willow. The poem, the photographs...magic.

    I agree with Tony, Guy could have stepped straight off a film set.

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  3. Wasn't he the most handsome?! I have a copy of this photo framed, on the piano at the manor.

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  4. Amazing shot and nice to have these photos, 2 B sure!

    Cheers!

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  5. Love that first picture -- I wouldn't want to have to wear those outfits but, my, they looked elegant!

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  6. Wow, a very handsome Guy - what a pity he died so young. These days he would no doubt have survived.

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  7. I got a niece named Nigeria. But, if you ask me, personally I think that name ghetto as hell.

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  8. I remember Guy Hanna,
    and your poingant poem -
    a reminder to cease every day,
    and be grateful for our blessings.

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  9. you are amazing with these photographs and stories.
    i adore them,
    and i know my mom does too.

    xxx

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  10. I love your poems about your family. They are full of passion and love. This one was equally enjoyable. Many thanks.

    Greetings from a very, very cold and snowy London.

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  11. Ancestors..seemingly ever present..Guy eternally handsome..poem, very deep, the roots of the family!

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  12. Guy was a great looker all right. But Albuquerque in 1910 must have been a horrible experience.

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  13. Guy...what a hunk!

    Just read of a case of TB in Florida. Took almost 2 years for the doctors to get in under control. Poor young man was quarantined in a hospital the whole time...drugs not working anymore...

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  14. Merisi, yes, this is a repeat post, but with Alan's Sepia Saturday, I just couldn't resist posting it again. It's nice to know you remembered it from before! :^)

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  15. He was certainly a good looking Guy. So sad about his untimely illness.

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  16. Amazing how interests carry from one generation to another. And now there is you! I also see a physical resemblance between you and Guy.

    Marjorie

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  17. Palestine, Guy... what posh sounding names! Great photos, too!

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  18. Yeah, Cat, my paternal line had a thing for great names. Several generations named all their children using three given names. I wish now, that I had done that, too.

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  19. Wonderful poem & photos--I really like the way you write about family history!

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  20. Beautiful, willow. "...mending springs that bubble deep..." will keep percolating in me for a while after reading this post.

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  21. Wonderful poem - captures the events succinctly. How wonderful to know your family's history!

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  22. you have such a rich history of your family in photographs and you write such wonderful poetry

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  23. I'll say it again, "what a handsome hunk Guy was!" So sad that he died so young; that awful TB took my Grandmother very early too.

    Lovely to have all that history and photos to treasure.

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  24. You are the living voice of all your family gone before you...maybe their heart as well...beautiful words of homesick feelings.

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  25. Willow...what a wonderful post...love the photographs and your beautiful words....very nice, my friend...

    Love,
    kary

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  26. wow willow what a post i love these rich old photographs with all the personalities gathered in one place. then guy's photograph - such strength in his presence and then his flying away after so much effort was put out to help him. wow. have a peaceful evening at the manor. steven

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  27. palestine is a very cool name...very nice verse as well...i can hear the love you have for them in your words...

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  28. Beautiful poem, Willow. I remember your photo of Guy with the camera--what a handsome man. How very sad that he died so young. My Joe's mother almost died of TB when their housekeeper had it, and she caught it...They had all 3 of the children checked, and they were fine, but it turns out Joe's mom had contracted it... and Joe was sent to an orphanage with his siblings for about 5 years, when he was just a tiny child. When they discovered streptomycin, she was on death's door, and they had nothing to lose, so they tried it on her and she recovered. It's the thing in Joe's life that has impacted him the most powerfully, I think. I learned about it the day I met him.

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  29. You have the best family history papers/photographs. Lovely to see how you weave these in your blog.

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  30. I thought the photo looked familiar, but it was a real treat to read the poem once more.

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  31. Great stuff! Guy looked like Christopher Reeve! I love these family posts.

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  32. I missed this post the first time around, so glad you decided to repeat it. I hope all these poems are going into a collected "published" works.

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  33. Guy is one handsome chap!

    PS: I love your ventures into family history. Are you a genealogist? (my mom is)

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  34. What wonderful strong people. It would have been nice to have known them. It's very clever how Guy had the picture taken holding his camera. That would have been very novel in those days. You follow well in his footsteps.

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  35. I love how that hot and fierce wind was captured in this photo. The movement of the clothing and the hair give witness to the things beyond the realm of control.

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  36. Love this post Willow
    Your poem perfectly captures the feel i get from looking at that photo!! Fabulous

    And Guy... well he is a looker.. I think I have seen him on your blog before!! I'd trot out all my relatives too if they were this good looking!!!

    Always enjoy your sepia posts!! .. Julie

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  37. Did he allow friends to give him "Pal" as a nickname? A lovely tribute to ancestors and such beautiful photos.

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  38. Palestine is definitely a rockin' name.

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  39. he was so handsome! your poem is very soulful :)

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  40. He looks like a movie star!

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  41. Times were tough and people, by definition, had to be resilient. So many succumbed to TB.

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  42. This was a sad and beautiful poem. I enjoyed this bit of family history and the pictures, Willow.

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  43. I always like reading your family history posts!
    I wish you inspiration.

    sincere congratulations from snow-covered Ukraine. Kyiv minus 25

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  44. Dear Willow, *********************
    I was named for an award and
    NOW I NAME YOU FOR
    "THE KREATIVE BLOGGERS AWARD".:.

    Please stop over to my post and read the how to get it.
    You are great.
    Yvonne
    ***********************************

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  45. Willow,
    my eidetic memory is still working, wished I could remember names that well (I remember one instance when I had forgotten a person's name, but kept a photographic memory of her phone number - well, I called, lucky me, she answered with her name).
    I did remember your post particularly well because your pictures, the tragic story and your poem really are worth remembering.
    Stop me, if I write "remembering" one more time ... after all, I am the kind of mother who at times had to call the names of all her four children until she finally got the one she wanted to call at the beginning! ;-)

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  46. its a great name, i wonder if it was unusual. And they look quite relaxed, don't they? its so nice when some of these old photos are less rather than more formal

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  47. A truly fantastic post Willow. The very epitome of what Sepia Saturday is all about.

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  48. Junk Thief, YES! Palestine was known by his friends as "Pal". So endearing.

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  49. Hi, Yvonne, I am so very flattered! I don't really "do" the award thing, but I'll pop over in a few. You are so sweet! Thank you!

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  50. Guy was quite handsome. My dad had TB and was in a hospital for a year when I was little. I was not allowed to visit and thought he was dead so my mom took me to the parking lot and Dad came to the window so I could see him.

    Lovely poem. I like the way you write about your family and use the old photos to illustrate. I can see the book.

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  51. Thought prevoking prose poem Willow! One can visualize fully how much the land means to the prairie homesteader. How rough, tough and short their lives, yet they were so strong. The indelible sepia photograph of the young gentleman brings me images of early American life of the sod-buster cum photog. Wonders how he got initiated into photography, then a new "format". Palestine must have gone to the Holy City at one time, or his parents did, was he a Crusader? Interesting...go on...:

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  52. that first photo blows me away!!

    I agree with tony, guy is a real looker.

    I decided to play along in sepia saturday for the first time today - a great thing to start in the new year!

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  53. Hello Willow,

    I remember this too, but all the better for being able to read it again.

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  54. YES it is the greatest name. You are so rich in history, Willow. All the pictures and stories in your possession. It's wonderful.

    And your poetry - wow!!

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  55. Well, that is a sad story. Poor Guy. And yes, he was very handsome for sure.

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  56. Great post....I LOVE old photos. The self portrait of Guy is HOT....he was CUTE!!!

    Happy New Year from Houston!

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  57. Willow,
    What can I say! Great post for our ancestry. I have often thought how much I would have liked to known Guy...he looks so fun in his picture there. And I love that group picture too! Have a happy weekend! The Bach

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  58. That Guy was a handsome fellow indeed!

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  59. I love how much you know about your family, your more distant past. What a treasure trove you are storing up to offer your children and theirs. And theirs.

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  60. So sad to die so young. Handsome, yes. Beautiful offering for Sepia Saturday. Maybe that's something I should join in doing.

    Your poem left me in awe.

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  61. I think Otin is on to something...he does have a Christopher Reeves look about him!

    Makes you wonder what might have been!

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  62. Finding a portrait of a relative holding a camera is amazing. I often think that I should have some one else take my picture with my various cameras, but you took one of yourself, in a mirror, I guess. What a beautiful poem and legacy. Happy New Year, and yes, I'm one year older, but I don't feel a thing. Just keep denying it.

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  63. I have just found your blog. I shall be checking in again.
    How interesting to hear someone say that they love the smell of old papers and books. It has been a trait of mine for as long as I can remember.
    I have beautiful sepia photographs also that I prize.

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  64. How sad. Many people moved to the dry Southwest, especially New Mexico and Arizona, hoping for cures of many respiratory diseases, like asthma, allergies, TB.

    Lovely tribute poem and photo. Yes he was talented.

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  65. Tears and chills. I love the lyricism of that last line. I want to memorize it. It lingers.

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  66. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  67. Great post, Willow. I love the poem. It reminds me of Albuquerque We lived in Albuquerque from 1986 to 1996. We liked the culture and the food but it was way too hot and dry for us. That and the high crime rate drove us north to Rapid City.
    I see your photography talent comes naturally.

    Ron and Lou Ann

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  68. Aren't you lucky to have those photo's. My house burned to the
    ground in Hurricane Andrew, so I lost everything.
    Handsom looking family. The old
    tented color is so pretty.
    Cherish them.
    Yvonne

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  69. Palestine is a great name to have it would make a person stand out. It sounds like it would make a great name for a super hero religious leader to save the world in the middle east.

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  70. Yeah, great name. You took the inspiration and turned it into a glorious poetic tribute. Nice. I guess you come by your photographic talents honestly.

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  71. Yvonne, I am so sorry to hear that you lost your family treasures in a fire, dear friend. Very tragic, indeed. All the more reason to cherish those lovely intangibles. x

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  72. Wonderful, Willow. I need to put my family history in writing - especially for my kids and their kids. It's so important to tell stories. My mother could tell the best ones!

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  73. Very very cool indeed.. BTW food allergies is no good! :o/

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  74. Your photos are wonderful. I think of his parents in this as Guy was close to my daughter's present age. How tragic to try to do everything and lose such a young man, held so dear.It's a lovely tribute to everybody, more so in that you have Guy's photo displayed on the piano in your home.I notice I am getting more sentimental these days - even for other's families!!I liked your poem.How's your chilly weather by the way? 43 degree heat here today.

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  75. Terrific post. I keep meaning to tell you how much I love your sidebar with the tidbits about what you're reading and what you're listening to and watching. I'm going to rent The Ballad of the Sad Cafe -- I haven't thought about it in years and loved that book and movie...

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  76. Really cool and nice poem too!Have a nice day :)

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  77. Pam, yes, it's chilly here in Central Ohio this morning!! 9 degrees F, as I type this! Brr!!

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  78. handsome man and interesting tidbit.

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  79. Very memorable post. This is one of your best poems, in my humble opinion.

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  80. Guy certainly caught the hot wind blowing in N.M. Loved the photos!

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  81. Oh, Bee, thank you. It means a lot coming from a literary person, such as yourself. You just made my day!

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  82. Palestine is a really great name...I totally agree. Interesting that he had no idea taking that picture would someday end up here...very cool.

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  83. fantabulously wonderful post, lady willow!!! what exquisitely beautiful photos - and then, guy, the MAN! breathtakingly handsome! and the story so much like that of a part of my mother's family and a beautiful man to whom she was married whose mother suffered TB and they, too, moved west - new mexico/texas - for health reasons - anyway, a beautiful post, as always, lady of the manor!

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  84. oh, and palestine, a fabulous name -
    and it gives such insight into the person -

    one of my greatest joys in doing my yayatree genealogy blog is to be come to know better my ancestors - those who came before me and mine and from whom we have garnered so much -

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  85. What a very touching poem and story. What handsome people. Thanks- love your blog.

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)