Grass by Carl Sandburg
I finished reading The Killer Angels (and I highly recommend it) and now I’m watching Gettysburg, which is also fantastic (and an excellent adaptation). So here’s a depressing little poem to go with my war theme. Trust Sandburg to take something simple and create a powerful image.
Grass
By Carl Sandburg
Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo,
Shovel them under and let me work—
I am the grass; I cover all.
And pile them high at Gettysburg
And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.
Shovel them under and let me work.
Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?
Where are we now?
I am the grass.
Let me work.
