Year after year they
dragged the stones
for a memorial
to the dead.
And it was a mighty
work,
the greatest engineering
marvel
of the ancient
world
conveniently
located
in the desert,
so when a stone
fell
it only killed a
slave,
the machinery of the
times.
And it still
stands
thousands of years
later,
though no longer
sanctified
as a place for the
dead.
A new building goes
up
in midtown
Manhattan
on Madison
Avenue
and 42nd
Street,
a dense part of the
city.
And as it
soars
day after day
in the city of
skyscrapers,
the wonderful
construction
does not
interfere
with the busy life around
it.
Tourists stop
nearby,
photo Grand Central
Terminal,
a noble
edifice,
and never
notice
the incredible
rise
of a shimmering
spire
proclaiming
modernity,
not dropping a
stone
that would not fall in
the desert,
but land on
pedestrians,
killing and injuring
many,
instead a
testament
to modern
achievement.