Made of smokestacks and trusses,
interlocking and rectilinear;
Naves are wandering the new brick streets,
humbled by shelter, by pressure.
Solidarity in civic identity,
iron tasted on the tongue;
Dwarfed by an engineered order,
humbled by progress, by claustrophobia.
Such industry held up on hills,
dormitories are bent and sooty brown;
Anonymous postures pause conversations,
humbled by pride, by fatigue.
Shared with W3 #189 – picture prompt
1994ever 
Shaun, I think you’ve captured the gritty nature of the 1900 industrial revolution!
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Thanks Val 🙏
Those muddy streets, the beginning of the journey of consumerism!
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The life wasn’t the most pleasant at that time. Thoughtful poem!
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Thanks Elizabeth 🙏
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“Solidarity in civic identity” I think this line captures what I was feeling about this image.
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Thank you 🙏
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You’re welcome.
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Pittsburgh Steel!
An impressive write, Shaun.
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Thanks Nancy 🙏
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Powerful writing, Shaun!
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Thanks Nolcha 🙏
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I think that was the intention in the old steel towns, to break the people’s spirit so they were easier to enslave. Nicely done.
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This brings the movie ‘Brazil’ to mind.
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Shaun, “iron tasted on the tongue” is really good—I can almost feel that heaviness settle in my mouth.
~David
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Thanks David 🙏
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🤗
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