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Home  »  Chicago Poems  »  85. Under

Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Chicago Poems. 1916.

85. Under

I

I AM the undertow

Washing tides of power

Battering the pillars

Under your things of high law.

II

I am a sleepless

Slowfaring eater,

Maker of rust and rot

In your bastioned fastenings,

Caissons deep.

III

I am the Law

Older than you

And your builders proud.

I am deaf

In all days

Whether you

Say “Yes” or “No”.

I am the crumbler:

To-morrow.