News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Saturday December 20th 2025
ADVENT CANDLE: PEACE
A POEM BY THOMAS R. SMITH
Peace to the goose with the broken wing, eliciting
the maddening kindness of human beings, maddening
because inconsistently applied.
Peace to the snapping turtle burrowed in the riverbottom
mud, frozen and sealed as if for Judgment Day.
Peace to the queen bee in her hive, kept warm
at the center of a ball made of thousands of her
subjects, not all of whom will survive the winter.
Peace to the bear in her leafy den, giving birth
in her sleep, as it seems that poets sometimes do,
astonished to awaken to the bright, hungry eyes
of the poem.
Peace to the trees keeping their minds on heaven,
while holding fast the under-sky of roots and mycelia.
Peace to the clouds, shielding the sun from the
glaring follies of humans below.
Peace to all the fevered world with its rising
temperature and tides.
Peace to the famished who have eaten the poisoned
bread of lies.
Peace to the strangers to themselves, unable to abide
their own company.
Peace to those from whom everything has been stripped,
who shiver in fear of the coming winter,
having never recovered from the last.… Read the rest “ADVENT CANDLE: PEACE”
RETURNING CHAPTER 15: WHAT IS IN THIS PLACE?
By PATRICK CABELLO HANSEL
Our beloved family did not know the history of the garage they were cornered in. It was built as a barn by Sigurd Amundson in the summer of 1900, to store his cart and horse. Sigurd had begun building the house on Ascension Day in 1899 and moved into it on Candlemas Day, 1900 with his wife Evangeline (nee Magnuson) and their infant son, Ronald. Sigurd had immigrated to Minnesota from a small town near Lund, Sweden when he was eight years old. His parents, William and Jeanette (nee Olson) were charter members of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. (The one on 15th Avenue, built by Swedes, not the one eight blocks away, built by Norwegians.) They were buried in Soldiers and Pioneers Cemetery two blocks away, along with three of Sigurd’s siblings, who died at ages 2, 7 and 11 of dysentery, cholera and a work accident, respectively.
Sigurd first sold vegetables, used clothing, and pots and pans from his cart. As the automobile became more prevalent in the city’s poorer wards, he learned how to fix them, and started one of the first garages on the south side. Legend had it that his horse, known to all the children of the area as “Buddy” had run away on a cold Santa Lucia Eve in 1914.… Read the rest “RETURNING CHAPTER 15: WHAT IS IN THIS PLACE?”
Never Homeless Before 1492
By Carz Nelson
On November 3, a new art installation was unveiled at the Wall of Forgotten Natives, the location of the 2018 homeless encampment on Franklin Avenue. Twenty-three boards wired to the chain-link fence spell out: “Never Homeless Before 1492”. Each panel includes images and symbols that are relevant to the American Indian community.
Artist Courtney Cochran led the design. Many community members contributed to the work, including people who have experienced homelessness themselves. The project is sponsored by the Native American Community Development Institute and the Minnesota Department of Transportation. It will remain in place on Franklin Avenue for two years.
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