Good People of Chicago, you and I
Belie our nature to categorize
By last names and colors of opacity:
Though I am see-through and you are tag-defined,
We all share the streets, the weather and time.
Good People, look beyond Division Street,
Past the iron gates and the cul-de-sacs:
We share main roads and fenceless avenues,
Undenied paths and ways to get home
Through this grand maze of lines: we need to share—
Good People, look beyond the lake effect
And local winds that vary by degrees:
We share the winter freeze that shuts us in
Till summer sends us out, year after year
To spraying hydrants, Michigan waves, escape—
And we share time, Good People, you and I,
And the roads stretch on and on with potholes
And snowbanks; and seasons run their cycle;
Time touches all, heals all, moves all, tolls for all,
And here we are, Chicago, until we die.
