The Sorrow of Cement - Rebecca del Rio

[Larry Robinson]

The Sorrow of Cement

We step on over around 
The world, altered for our
Vision, improvement on
Perfection of stone, water, air.
The Spanish have a saying,
"Cogido con las manos
En la masa, "caught with our
Hands in the mix." This,
The corruption of our time. 

Did the stone ask to
Be reduced to dust, mixed
With minerals, foreign or
Domesticated?

And what of the cattle, the chickens
All companions on this plain?
Their lives twisted, distorted
Lives without reach into lives
Meant to live.

Above jet tracks drawn
As though by a child
Wobble and widen. 
Unnatural to the sky's
Forget-me-not blue
Trails of vaporous poison


Cursed, like Adam and Eve
First standing upright
Surveying their world. 
Did they wonder then
How to improve, manipulate
Or simply to live alongside?

	- Rebecca del Rio




"Be joyful though you have considered all the facts."
    - Wendell Berry