Irvine Hires Carl Sandburg to Pen a Poem

In an effort to bolster the local economy and lift the spirits of its residents, the city of Irvine brought the poet Carl Sandburg out of his cryogenically frozen state for a few days.

He walked around Irvine and wrote a little poem.

You may remember Carl.

He put Chicago on the map with this:

“Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders:
They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I have seen your painted women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the faces of women and children I have seen the marks of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning…”

And now he has done the same for Irvine…

Video Game Designer for the World,

Botox Maker, Stacker of Integrated Circuits,

Player with Real Estate and the Nation’s Mortgage Broker,

Calm, quaint, quiet, City of the Perfect Plan:

They tell me you are dull and I believe them, for I have seen your streamlined streets and homogenous homes luring Los Angelenos.

And they tell me you are polite and I answer: Yes, it is true I have seen the car yield to the bicycle.

And they tell me you are quiet and my reply is: I once heard a hummingbird while sitting in a Starbucks.

And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city and I give them back the sneer and say to them:

Come and show me another city so safe, so educated, built for children, groomed for adults determined to bounce back and thrive once more…