Question and Response

Old Doc Munson

with his years

creased upon his face

had his women's clinic

in the morning shadow

of Hangman's Hill

on the first ring

of the black mountain

hills of Dakota

that splits Rapid City

Some praying protesters

might have wanted

to take him up that hill

Many women thanked him

As a poor young man

in the dirty thirties

Ben Munson

joined the CCC

the Civil Conservation Corps

to support himself

and his family

On his first day

he sought the main office

of the camp at Custer

Walking in

he saw a tall man

in uniform

his feet in boots

upon the desk

Ben had a question

that we don't know

to this day

I'm looking for the head man 

he said

From behind the desk

Lieutenant Frank James Soutar

barked

I'm the man with the big nuts

and so our family

has only one recorded

direct quote

of my grandfather

a man who spoke and wrote

seven languages

including Arabic

a talented engineer

who was said

to have read

every book

in the Rapid City Library

Such were the days

when the government

and its wealthy President

cared about its people

before gross profiteers

before television

before the Internet

before people's heads

were down

on their mobile phones

looking at an idiot's tweets

from the President's bedroom

in the White House

a time when my grandfather

was helping a young man

find his way

into the profession of medicine

to help women

out of the trouble

some men caused

Barry G. Wick