ON the one hand the steel works. On the other hand the penitentiary. Sante Fe trains and Alton trains Between smokestacks on the west And gray walls on the east. And Lockport down the river. Part of the valley is God's. And part is man's. The river course laid out A thousand years ago. The canals ten years back. The sun on two canals and one river Makes three stripes of silver Or copper and gold Or shattered sunflower leaves. Talons of an iceberg Scraped out this valley. Claws of an avalanche loosed here. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LA NOCHE TRISTE by ROBERT FROST CACHE LA POUDRE by JAMES GALVIN INEVITABLY (1) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON MATE (1) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON DE LITTLE PICKANINNY'S GONE TO SLEEP by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON DOWN BY THE CARIB SEA: 2. LOS CIGARILLOS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON |