I am the people—the mob—the crowd—the mass.
Do you know that all
the great work of the world is done through me?
I am the workingman,
the inventor, the maker of the world’s food and
clothes.
I am the audience that
witnesses history. The Napoleons come from me
and the Lincolns. They die. And then I
send forth more Napoleons
and Lincolns.
I am the seed ground. I
am a prairie that will stand for much plowing.
Terrible storms pass over me. I forget.
The best of me is sucked out
and wasted. I forget. Everything but Death
comes to me and makes
me work and give up what I have. And I
forget.
