Aquadynamics and the far dark boom of quarry rock
people do much larger things than I
a blast far away in the quarry con
firms it – big men, three hundred pounds and more,
who lose hands between boulders the size of houses, reaching
for the one rock out of place – com
posing vast poems whose subtle song
of a million million voices
expresses itself in the vast and perfect
slight tilt
of a barge that will be three years
moving from here to far Dubai – attended
by helicopters, the machine train sighs
across the seas and these vast men merely man it – each, too
exhausted in his turn – the gulls cry screaming
in the wake of the tugs and chains – they, smaller than I
tend this great procession
with far greater knowledge and attention
than I, a poet not too far by
enchanted by booms
and the stories of large men
who do larger things , I reach
for that one detail out of place
that will fix the scene in place, in mind forever
but the rocks roll on today
and I pull back a stump.
3 comments:
Powerful, gret stuff, Peter! Dynamic.
"large things" That reminds me of a person I knew, who climbed mountains and was a fan of "the biggies". I am much more interested in details, myself.
Thanks for this one.
This is so good! Yes dynamic.
Lovely Poem.
I spent most of yesterday reading about Bloomington, Indiana's Limestone quarrymen (what we lovingly call Cutters, who were depicted in the cult film "Breaking Away.)
This poem reminds me of many things I read about, and quite of few of the bloodied men walking my hometown's streets.
The second half of the poem has such a lovely meter. Can't quite figure it out, but it moves through the mind in some sort of classical manner.
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