| Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Smoke and Steel. 1922. |
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| II. People Who Must |
| 1. People Who Must |
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| I PAINTED on the roof of a skyscraper. | |
| I painted a long while and called it a day’s work. | |
| The people on a corner swarmed and the traffic cop’s whistle never let up all afternoon. | |
| They were the same as bugs, many bugs on their way— | |
| Those people on the go or at a standstill; | 5 |
| And the traffic cop a spot of blue, a splinter of brass, | |
| Where the black tides ran around him | |
| And he kept the street. I painted a long while | |
| And called it a day’s work. | |
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