| Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Cornhuskers. 1918. |
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| 51. Near Keokuk |
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| THIRTY-TWO Greeks are dipping their feet in a creek. | |
| Sloshing their bare feet in a cool flow of clear water. | |
| All one midsummer day ten hours the Greeks | |
| stand in leather shoes shoveling gravel. | |
| Now they hold their toes and ankles | 5 |
| to the drift of running water. | |
| Then they go to the bunk cars | |
| and eat mulligan and prune sauce, | |
| Smoke one or two pipefuls, look at the stars, | |
| tell smutty stories | 10 |
| About men and women they have known, | |
| countries they have seen, | |
| Railroads they have built— | |
| and then the deep sleep of children. | |
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