Photo: Historical marker in Kendallville, Indiana, honoring poet Arthur Franklin Mapes (1913-1986), lifelong resident and author whose poems celebrated Indiana’s landscape and traditions. Courtesy of Terri Gorney Lehman.
BY TERRI GORNEY LEHMAN
Arthur Franklin Mapes (1913-1986) was an Indiana Poet Laureate. His poem “Indiana” was adopted as the Official State Poem of Indiana in 1963.
An Indiana Historical Bureau marker was dedicated September 13, 2025, in his hometown of Kendallville in Noble County at Bixler Lake. It is a lake he knew well and even penned a poem about it. I think he would be pleased that this lake is included in the Gene Stratton-Porter Christmas Bird Count circle. Lakeview Cemetery where he is buried is inside the circle and his “winter birds” can be seen there.
Most Hoosiers are probably not familiar with his writings. Many of his poems are of Indiana, nature, and home. His family has generously made his poems available at arthurmapes.wordpress.com. The website was created and is maintained by his granddaughter Angela Mapes Turner.
Winter Birds
They gather at our feeder every day.
Those hungry winter birds I dearly love;
The Cardinal, the Chickadee, the Jay,
The common Sparrow and the Mourning Dove.
The Downy pecks upon the apple tree,
The Yellow-shafted Flicker feeds there too.
Oh! What a privilege it is to see.
These lovely winter birds of every hue.
They do not migrate with their summer friends.
But stay with us tho’ winter winds may blow.
The food upon which their livelihood depends
Lies hidden underneath the ice and snow.
So always keep your feeder filled with seeds.
Take care of them with tenderness and love,
Then watch a hungry Sparrow as it feeds
And God will surely bless you from above.
I would not turn a beggar from my door
With haughty scorn….or mean and angry words;
And may I never feel that I’m so poor
That I can’t feed the hungry winter birds.
Here’s to hoping that everyone keeps their feeders full for their winter birds. They bring a little cheer on a gray Indiana day.
This blog post was written by Hoosier historian and naturalist Terri Gorney Lehman as part of her Flight Paths Through History series, exploring the people, places, and moments that have shaped Indiana birding.
Tags: flight paths through history
