Industrial Way from Peace Bridge by John Hovorka

THE INDUSTRIAL WAY
by John Hovorka

They are dumping black liquids out of large pipes into a huge lake
It is the industrial way
Preferably they say in some other country far away

Don’t ask me to explain my attraction to this mess
Steel mills pop up on long Eurasian steppes
If you want to build something, anything
Then you will have to break some eggs
And to buy the final products
is like paying to break someone’s legs

Because the workers jump out
of the industrial dormitory windows
Not to prove a point
They won’t be there to see that photo op
After they die from their fall
But perhaps the mined out loess
With its increasingly rare earth
Has it the worst of all

I allegedly talked
with the evil industrialists
To buy supplies from them
I talked to them on the phone
Paper goods suppliers with their trees, not so nice
But the chemical companies’ service reps
Made me feel right at home

Because they are dumping black liquids out of large pipes into a huge lake
It is the industrial way
Preferably they say in some other country far away
Preferably they say in some other country far away
Preferably they say in some other country far away

• Rock
• New York