BUILDERS OF HIGHWAYS
Enter the horses—lashing reins,
Yelling and curses, jangling chains,
Snorting and straining, steaming brutes,
Grappling hooks shackled to stubborn roots,
Snug in their sockets holding fast—
Steadily pulling, they yield at last!
Shovel of steam—omniverous scoop,
Gouging the way for one more loop;
Rearing a wall that will prevail
Against the push of sliding shale;
Peeling a slope to fill a draw;
Stuffing the crusher's hungry maw
That crumbles to bits the rock you've fed
To blanket a roadway's winding bed;
These are the digits running through
The problems that Nature's handed you.
Yelling and curses, jangling chains,
Snorting and straining, steaming brutes,
Grappling hooks shackled to stubborn roots,
Snug in their sockets holding fast—
Steadily pulling, they yield at last!
Shovel of steam—omniverous scoop,
Gouging the way for one more loop;
Rearing a wall that will prevail
Against the push of sliding shale;
Peeling a slope to fill a draw;
Stuffing the crusher's hungry maw
That crumbles to bits the rock you've fed
To blanket a roadway's winding bed;
These are the digits running through
The problems that Nature's handed you.
And we of the people—we for whom
These miracles are, behold we come!
Driving our chariots blazoned bright,
Crimson and yellow and pink and white,
Silver and black and gray and green,
Rattletrap Lizzie and limousine,
Bulgy with bedding, grip and can,
Lashed to the back and tucked to the van;
Letting our home-town banners flame,
Advising the world from whence we came,
These miracles are, behold we come!
Driving our chariots blazoned bright,
Crimson and yellow and pink and white,
Silver and black and gray and green,
Rattletrap Lizzie and limousine,
Bulgy with bedding, grip and can,
Lashed to the back and tucked to the van;
Letting our home-town banners flame,
Advising the world from whence we came,
[12]
