12. Manufactured Gods. III. Broken-Face Gargoyles. Sandburg, Carl. 1920. Smoke and Steel

Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Smoke and Steel. 1922.

III. Broken-Face Gargoyles

12. Manufactured Gods

THEY put up big wooden gods.
Then they burned the big wooden gods
And put up brass gods and
Changing their minds suddenly
Knocked down the brass gods and put up	5
A doughface god with gold earrings.
The poor mutts, the pathetic slant heads,
They didn’t know a little tin god
Is as good as anything in the line of gods
Nor how a little tin god answers prayer	10
And makes rain and brings luck
The same as a big wooden god or a brass
God or a doughface god with golden
Earrings.