Reporter’s Notebook: Poems speak of Ozarks
When I last wrote one of these columns, in November, I was getting ready to help select several poems to be stamped into sidewalks near Missouri State University’s classrooms at Brick City.
If the weather cooperates, three of those poems will be etched in concrete by the end of next week, words waiting for the curious eyes and scuffed heels of passers-by.
The city, MSU and local arts groups teamed up to select the sidewalk poems, which are part of a pilot project to promote low-cost public art.
I hope other residents are impressed with the selections as much as I was.
Each evokes images of the Ozarks — hopeless, drought-stricken fields or fresh-tilled soil heavy with possibilities; candle-powered, tissue paper balloons floating over the hills on an autumn night.
“Aux Arcs,” by MSU-West Plains professor Anthony Priest, name-checks half a dozen current and former landmarks while brooding on the unspoiled wilderness they replaced:
who could have imagined this? Fair Grounds,
Crystal Cave, Route 66 spilling
light and an endless stream of billboards;
Queen City Diner, Hillbilly Doc’s,
Fantastic Caverns cave you ride through.
Who could have imagined this? In the case of these sidewalk poems, at least some of the credit goes to Springfield Public Works Director Phil Broyles, who died March 29 after a brief battle with cancer.
Jonathan Gano, one of the assistant directors in the department, told me that Broyles got the idea from St. Paul, Minn.
Broyles struck me as the kind of guy who wasn’t afraid of swiping a good idea when he saw it, while making sure to give credit where it was due.
I didn’t know him well, but I always enjoyed my interactions with Broyles. He was lighthearted — city spokeswoman Cora Scott penned a touching letter describing that side of his personality — and a real cheerleader for the city and the work done by his department.
More importantly, he didn’t clam up when I had questions about less favorable topics, such as the delays and disputes involved with an electronic traffic sign project or a 2010 auditor’s report that criticized the Public Works service center’s use of money gained from scrapping cars.
In both cases, Broyles addressed my questions head-on and made sure I received the documents I requested. He encouraged his staff to be cooperative and transparent, as well.
Those are qualities to admire in a public servant. So when you’re shuffling through Brick City and spot those words in the pavement, spare a thought for Broyles.
who could have imagined this?
Broyles did, so Springfield will see those words for years to come.