Cool Tombs
Carl Sandburg (from Cornhuskers, 1918)
When Abraham Lincoln was shoveled into the tombs,
he forgot the copperheads and the assassin…
in the dust, in the cool tombs.
And Ulysses Grant lost all thought of con men and Wall Street,
cash and collateral turned ashes…
in the dust, in the cool tombs.
Pocahontas’ body, lovely as a poplar, sweet as a red haw
in November or a pawpaw in May, did she wonder? does she remember?
in the dust, in the cool tombs?
Take any stressful of people buying clothes and groceries,
cheering a hero or throwing confetti and blowing tin horns…
tell me if the lovers are losers…
tell me if any get more than the lovers…
in the dust…
in the cool tombs.
Carl Sandburg (photo from commons.wikimedia)
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on Friday, December 25th, 2009 at 9:38 am
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