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Poetically Yours: 101 year old poet shares late night musings

Welcome to Poetically Yours. Poetically Yours showcases poems by northern Illinois poets. This week we feature our oldest contributor, 101-year-old Jean Schildbach.

Schildbach is from Elmhurst Illinois. She writes poetry every day and said most of her thoughts come to her in the middle of the night.

“These ads on TV where they say, ‘and I take this and I can sleep right straight through it. And I thought it'd be a disaster if I slept right through [the night],” she said.

Schildbach enjoys going to church, singing with her oldest daughter and dolling herself up.

Schildbach’s poems cover a variety of topics. She has a good friend that she calls and shares them with each day. Today she is sharing two poems with WNIJ listeners. The first one is called “News of Ukraine.”

News of Ukraine

As I listen to the news on this lovely morn’

I'm happy to say an American I was born

Sure, we have our worries and many of complaints

But next door to Russia

I thank God we ain't

But the world is shrinking and becomes ever more scary

With each new invention. We should all become weary

So, as you fold your hands in prayer and thanksgiving

Add a prayer for the Ukrainians and the life they're now living

This following poem is about her doll.

I wish I had this dolls picture. When she was given to me

I would guess that I was just about three

She was totally painted and jointed throughout

But through her life, she's been changed both inside and out.

I painted her face and bought this wig for her head

And made her a sailor dress to wear instead.

Then I found her a perfect small rocking chair.

Now we to make a wonderful pair rocking in a rocking chair.

  • Yvonne Boose is a current corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.