Chicago

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 your gas lamps luring the farm boys, And they tell me you are brutal And I believe them, For I have seen the gunman kill And go free to all the city’s houses. But they have not seen the faces of those Who bring promise and life to come, And they tell me you are the birthplace Of the flowers in spring and the laughter Of a girl waiting for the dawn.

• Carl Sandburg