E.+Hanks+Loomis+poems

Post your E. Hanks Loomis poems here. (Title should be in heading 1 font; byline and poem should be in normal font.) =Cousin Emily= By: Jessica Everingham

I told the Pantagraph on many occasions, Stories my father recited of my dear cousin, The nation referred to him Lincoln, But we called him Long Legged Abe. We moved to Illinois from Kentucky, Writing the rest of the family of the fine woods and prairies, Enticing the Lincolns to follow our footsteps. When Abe became a candidate for President My father proudly became a republican And was the only Hanks member to vote for him. My father was a strong supporter of Lincoln Making signs with rail fences reading //Abraham Lincoln, the Rail Splitter candidate for President// Yes he was the president of the USA, But He was my cousin, My beloved cousin.

= Emily Hanks Loomis =

By: Shannon Bogue

MY father knew the man From an early age. He worked as a farm hand Splitting rails from honey locust trees - The man said he shirked the hard cuts. He stayed with my family While he traveled the Circuit Or when the Decatur court was in session. My mother made him jeans of linsey-woolsey - For this he split twelve hundred wooden rails. Years later, in October, my father was the only Family member invited To the rail-splitter’s wedding. When that man ran for president, My father changed his party And cast a vote he said he never did regret. The rails Abe Lincoln cut Sold for a dollar each, And as for me, I got my most prized possession – A wooden picture frame, Made from a “genuine” Lincoln rail.