Towering high above oil-stained lands, A rotting wooden structure stands. From the rude frame platform above A great iron cable limply hangs, Its lower end pulled loose from The broken concrete base. Halfway to the ground a splintered ladder Sways. It makes a hollow clatter When the wind comes in wild fury, Darkened by the gritty sand, Swirled from regions to the northwest -- And casts a veil of dust, obliterating space. The slush-pit, once filled with black waste oil, Is but a mass of heavy sinking tar; And where the shanty tool-house once stood near, Now lies a heap of blackened wood. But over the forgotten tower there shines the same bright star That cast its rays upon the derrick in an early year. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BUDDHA AND BRAHMA by HENRY BROOKS ADAMS RUINS OF CORINTH by ANTIPATER OF SIDON NELL COOK; A LEGEND OF THE 'DARK ENTRY': THE KING'S SCHOLAR'S STORY by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM THE UNPARDONABLE SIN by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON NEVADA by HELENA GRACE BRADLEY SUNSHINE AND SHADOW by ROBERT BROWN HE WHO LOSETH HIS LIFE SHALL FIND IT by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON |