A New Poem for Chicago by Luis J. Rodriguez
A Hungry Song in the Shadows
When I think about Chicago’s first settlers, migrants, jobseekers,
who sought haven or the hope of one,
I think about a place fierce with wails, noises in all decibels,
tongues from all reaches, and how this is not just a city,
but a dream state of brick and chain-link fences, where poetry clatters
along with the El train on iron rails, where temples hold every
belief and street corners every color, a city that