Grass
Carl Sandburg, 1918
Carl Sandburg's poem in the voice of the grass that covers the dead of great battles, from Austerlitz and Waterloo to Gettysburg, Ypres and Verdun.
Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.Shovel them under and let me work—I am the grass; I cover all.
And pile them high at GettysburgAnd pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.Shovel them under and let me work.Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:What place is this?Where are we now?
I am the grass.Let me work.