1 

The bread line forms before the door 
is unlocked. It’s cold in these seedy 
second-hand coats. The second man, 
shoulders stooped, unfocused eyes 
turned downward, has been years 
without a job. His lips are pursed 
in resignation. What dignity he maintains 
sits like the wrinkled fedora on his head. 
He could be my grandfather or great-uncle, 
laid off by a hammer or hat factory, 
a restaurant, museum or brokerage, 
hungry for bread, hungrier for work. 


2 

The five men sculpted 
by George Segal still wait, 
like the poor waiting for a fair deal, 
for a good chance at an honest job. 
Tourists crowd between them, 
jostling for places at the front of the line, 
laughing as they take selfies. 
Young and well off, they are hungry 
for attention, don’t know the pain 
of empty days without work 
and empty stomachs. 

* Publisher’s Note:

Depression Bread Line (sculpture, 1991) by American artist George Segal (1924-2000) was originally created with plaster, wood, metal, and acrylic paint; and later cast in bronze for the FDR Memorial in Washington, D.C. (1999). An image of the bronze sculpture may be viewed at the Library of Congress online.

The original plaster sculpture is held by Crystal Bridges Museum of Modern Art. For details, see: Welcoming George Segal’s Depression Bread Line (4 November 2015).

For more info about this sculpture and the artist, see Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.

Wilda Morris,

Workshop Chair of Poets and Patrons of Chicago and a past President of the Illinois State Poetry Society, has published numerous poems in anthologies, webzines, and print publications, including The Ocotillo Review, Rockford Review, Turtle Island Quarterly, Modern Haiku, and Journal of Modern Poetry. She enjoys experimenting with different forms and styles of poetry, and has won awards for formal and free verse and haiku, including the 2019 Founders’ Award from the National Federation of State Poetry Societies.

Rockford Writers’ Guild (RWG) Press published Wilma’s first book of poetry, Szechwan Shrimp and Fortune Cookies: Poems from a Chinese Restaurant (2008). Much of her second poetry book, Pequod Poems: Gamming with Moby-Dick (published in 2019 by Kelsay Books), was written during a Writer’s Residency on Martha’s Vineyard. Her third full-length book of poetry, At Goat Hollow and Other Poems, is hot off the press from Kelsay Books (June 2023). She is now working on a collection of poetry inspired by books and articles on scientific topics.

Her blog, active since June 2009, features a monthly poetry contest:
Wilda Morris’s Poetry Challenge

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ Three Poems by Wilda Morris in Defuncted: A Collection of Abandoned Things (24 May 2023) at Medium.com: “Workshop Words”; “I Am Not Writing About Daffodils. I Am Trying to Make Them Bloom Again”; and “Searching for My Dutch Ancestor”