American Ozymandias [poem]

on the prairie
squats a pyramid
rough hewn
native stone

an ugly lump
of human hubris
squalid
and alone

“we will always
remember these
commemorated
here”

but prairie winds
sweeps it all away
leaving the horizon
clear

those honored
by this pile
deserve to be
forgot

laying claim to
work by others
they left
to rot

fancy men
important men
in office lofty
and prim

the real labor done
by damaged men
now missing
life and limb

those men lie
beneath prairie sod
in graves not
far away

while those honored
by the pyramid
rest in more
exalted clay

they were liars
thieves and scoundrels
lauded for
others’ work

stealing land from
hounded natives
and success
with a smirk

but that success
is gone now
their achievement
forgotten

like their workers
long since buried
their honor
now rotten

what was their crime?
their sin unforgiveable?
that caused their
fatal switch?

only the poor
may be robbed
with impunity
not the rich

© Buzz Dixon