A Frenchman made his way
into a great unknown
land, and more land,
lakes and rivers and native peoples
Westward on he went
discovering a land full of wonders
A great lake
and great lakes
like huge inland seas
fresh water, fish
here would be a place
where people could live
and well
Time passing
it came to be
my great grandpa settled there
working at a saw mill
making boards
making a city
a new life
far from tyrants and kings and queens
aristocracies unkind to people
Here, life was better
Wave after wave of people came
and the buildings grew thicker
and taller
til they became like stalagmites
reaching to the sky
sky scrapers, they called them
growing ever more tall
Box rooms built on box rooms
of homes and office spaces
served by small boxes on cables
lifting up, gliding down
the people sorting themselves
into their caves and places
into a great unknown
land, and more land,
lakes and rivers and native peoples
Westward on he went
discovering a land full of wonders
A great lake
and great lakes
like huge inland seas
fresh water, fish
here would be a place
where people could live
and well
Time passing
it came to be
my great grandpa settled there
working at a saw mill
making boards
making a city
a new life
far from tyrants and kings and queens
aristocracies unkind to people
Here, life was better
Wave after wave of people came
and the buildings grew thicker
and taller
til they became like stalagmites
reaching to the sky
sky scrapers, they called them
growing ever more tall
Box rooms built on box rooms
of homes and office spaces
served by small boxes on cables
lifting up, gliding down
the people sorting themselves
into their caves and places
Beneath the earth level tunnels serve
holding pipes and cables
feeding water (clean one way, used the other)
fuel and wires abound
trains come and go
loaded with folk by the thousands
On the streets cars and trucks and people move
pulsing here and there
rhythms and waves day and night
noise accentuated with sirens often
“Give over!” “Emergency!”
Where food came in wagons
it’s now traded through wires
Contracts are made, sold and bought
grains and cattle and hogs only on screens
numbers flashing all day long
prices established around the world
as dealers strike and call
Insurance and investments
banks and stores and restaurants
more sophisticated, complicated, all the time
more and more stalagmites for companies grow
Somehow all of it works!
Amazed, always, I visit there
in huge hotels
with others from around the state
sometimes around the nation
Swirling in with people from around the world
Mixing, sorting, doing our business
Then I go home
to the prairie
to nestle in my small place
the next person a mile away
The sky laid out for me to see
quiet
peace
Lin
11/2012
holding pipes and cables
feeding water (clean one way, used the other)
fuel and wires abound
trains come and go
loaded with folk by the thousands
On the streets cars and trucks and people move
pulsing here and there
rhythms and waves day and night
noise accentuated with sirens often
“Give over!” “Emergency!”
Where food came in wagons
it’s now traded through wires
Contracts are made, sold and bought
grains and cattle and hogs only on screens
numbers flashing all day long
prices established around the world
as dealers strike and call
Insurance and investments
banks and stores and restaurants
more sophisticated, complicated, all the time
more and more stalagmites for companies grow
Somehow all of it works!
Amazed, always, I visit there
in huge hotels
with others from around the state
sometimes around the nation
Swirling in with people from around the world
Mixing, sorting, doing our business
Then I go home
to the prairie
to nestle in my small place
the next person a mile away
The sky laid out for me to see
quiet
peace
Lin
11/2012