A View Of The World From The Sidewalk On West E St. And S. Pauley St.
And then,
Suddenly,
Welcome to the world
There are four telephone poles that stand out
As the sun sets
Giants from the mountains, holding up
The frail and fragile world we trust with our souls
God save us
God save us
God save us all
The wind keeps up
An American flag
All of the secrets and lies that flag stands for,
If you say them out loud, does it do anything?
The wind slows down
The flag dies
The wind picks up
The flag comes alive
What a thing to die for
Great machines thunder down the road
The road, another machine
The city, a third
The nation, a fourth
What is life inside of a machine?
The telephone pole, a fifth
Two red lights dance for no one
Or, they dance for me
Who decides
Me, or the lights?
The lights go round the corner
The lights it is, then
But all is natural
The machine, too, is natural
Animal constructs, enormous nests
Or dams
The river does not ask
Why it flows this way and that
The river flows
The river does not ask
I get up off the sidewalk
And leave