Hour by hour the girders play as ribs and reach out and
hold together the stone walls and floors. – “Skyscraper,” Carl Sandburg

Shadows slide along streets and alleys,
Slink slowly up old brick buildings.
Each inch traveled along the walks
Matches the vertical rise of concrete,
Of steel and tall sheets of glass.
Sandburg’s skyscraper has soul:
The soul of dreams and hopes
Poured into each cubic yard of concrete,
Fastened into each steel beam.
But these are squat soulless slabs
That scarcely scrape the sky
Yet still leave long black traces
Where sunlight once brightened the leaves
Lining the city sidewalks.
“Hour by hour” the shadows push harder
Against the brick and mortar of old red walls.