Thinkers from Carl Sandburg.

I've come to appreciate the poetry of Carl Sandburg lately. Not that he communicates things of great spiritual depth, but that he correctly identifies what it means to be human. Or at least he's honest about what humanity looks like without Christ.

Here are two of his poems I've found very thought provoking.


Limited

I am riding on a limited express, one of the crack trains of the nation.
Hurtling across the prairie into blue haze and dark air go fifteen all-steel coaches holding a thousand people.
(All the coaches shall be scrap and rust and all the men and women laughing in the diners and sleepers shall pass to ashes.)
I ask a man in the smoker where he is going and he answers: “Omaha.”

Happiness


I asked the professors who teach the meaning of life
to tell me what is happiness.
And I went to famous executives who boss the work
of thousands of men.
They all shook their heads and gave me a smile
as though I was trying to fool with them
And then one Sunday afternoon I wandered out
along the Desplaines River
And I saw a crowd of Hungarians under the trees
with their women and children and a keg of beer
and an accordion.