Dedication

"Southern Illinois Poetry" is dedicated to the past: to the small rural communities with their mud roads, coal oil lights and horse drawn vehicles, and to the small trading posts and town where supplies were brought in by rail. This book is dedicated to the honest, hard working families who built their own homes, church and school; cleared the land, planted gardens and crops, cured their meat, made molasses, threshed grain and made their bread.

These poems are dedicated to the beautiful virgin forest and clear running streams who knew no pollution. It is my hope that generations to come will read "Southern Illinois Poetry" and know we passed this way.

John L Gwaltney

John Lastle Gwaltney was born August 18, 1917, on a farm near the small town of Broughton, Illinois. He grew up with a special love for the land, farm animals, and the surrounding wildlife.

He started writing at an early age and published "Back Country Poems" in 1964. He has appeared on several television stations and has written for magazines and newspapers.

"southern Illinois Poetry" is an attempt to share with readers among other things, the excitement of his fishing spot, a trip to the molasses mill, and butchering day on the farm.

Saddened by the erosion of his rural community, he writes of farm auctions and of empty farm homes being torn down and the land plowed.

Always aware of a higher power, he deals quietly with the subject of death. His vivid descriptions could come only from a man who is at peace with his surroundings. At age 67 he still resides in the home in which he was born.

John L Gwaltney Aug. 18 1917 June 23 1993