November 3, 2004

The People, Yes


rockwellthepeople.jpg

by Carl Sandburg

Between the finite limitations of the five senses
and the endless yearnings of man for the beyond
the people hold to the humdrum bidding of work and food
while reaching out when it comes their way
for lights beyond the prison of the five senses,
for keepsakes lasting beyond any hunger or death.
    This reaching is alive.
The panderers and liars have violated and smutted it.
    Yet this reaching is alive yet
    for lights and keepsakes.

    The people know the salt of the sea
    and the strength of the winds
    lashing the corners of the earth.
    The people take the earth
    as a tomb of rest and a cradle of hope.
    Who else speaks for the Family of Man?
    They are in tune and step
    with constellations of universal law.
    The people is a polychrome,
    a spectrum and a prism
    held in a moving monolith,
    a console organ of changing themes,
    a clavilux of color poems
    wherein the sea offers fog
    and the fog moves off in rain
    and the labrador sunset shortens
    to a nocturne of clear stars
    serene over the shot spray
    of northern lights.

    The steel mill sky is alive.
    The fire breaks white and zigzag
    shot on a gun-metal gloaming.
    Man is a long time coming.
    Man will yet win.
    Brother may yet line up with brother:

This old anvil laughs at many broken hammers.
    There are men who can't be bought.
    The fireborn are at home in fire.
    The stars make no noise,
    You can't hinder the wind from blowing.
    Time is a great teacher.
    Who can live without hope?

In the darkness with a great bundle of grief
    the people march.
In the night, and overhead a shovel of stars for keeps, the people march:
    "Where to? what next?"

Posted by Vanderleun at November 3, 2004 8:20 PM
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"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

In the Rockwell Kent illustration, the banner appears to read "IWO" which I assume stands for International Workers Order:

http://international-workers-order.wikiverse.org/

"The International Workers Order (IWO), was a Communist-affiliated insurance and fraternal order founded in 1930 following a split from the Workmen's Circle, a still-extant Jewish fraternal organization."

Posted by: pst314 at November 4, 2004 6:56 AM

man, evidentemente sos un gran mogolico. te falla , y espero que vayas personalmente a irak en "mision liberadora" y te re caguen a patadas en el culo ...te lo mereces por GIL
le rezare a tu fuckin dios para que eso pase

Posted by: federico at November 4, 2004 7:31 AM

Federico,

Cuando los árabes conquistan andalusia otra vez, nos reiremos de usted.

Posted by: zip at November 4, 2004 9:22 AM