Squares
By
John I. Blair
It seemed so easy as a child
For me to learn directions;
My whole world looks rectangular.
To get from here to there
One always factors in the need
To travel north and south, east and west.
Oh the railroads track diagonal,
A minority report, a different scheme;
But the rest is blocked in squares.
So much of the heartland
Spreads like a graph of greed and loss,
With lines a mile apart.
We trapped the landscape,
Divided it in even lots and shapes,
Kept it in a cage without parole.
And all for what goal?
We never really tamed the place
(As hellish August days remind).
So we’re left these self-built cells
That also hold our minds and souls,
Gridlocked on the plains.
©2005 John I. Blair
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