| Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Cornhuskers. 1918. |
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| 52. Slants at Buffalo, New York |
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| A FOREFINGER of stone, dreamed by a sculptor, points to the sky. | |
| It says: This way! this way! | |
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| Four lions snore in stone at the corner of the shaft. | |
| They too are the dream of a sculptor. | |
| They too say: This way! this way! | 5 |
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| The street cars swing at a curve. | |
| The middle-class passengers witness low life. | |
| The car windows frame low life all day in pictures. | |
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| Two Italian cellar delicatessens | |
| sell red and green peppers. | 10 |
| The Florida bananas furnish a burst of yellow. | |
| The lettuce and the cabbage give a green. | |
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| Boys play marbles in the cinders. | |
| The boys’ hands need washing. | |
| The boys are glad; they fight among each other. | 15 |
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| A plank bridge leaps the Lehigh Valley railroad. | |
| Then acres of steel rails, freight cars, smoke, | |
| And then … the blue lake shore | |
| …Erie with Norse blue eyes … and the white sun. | |
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