Omaha

Carl Sandburg

Red barns and red heifers spot the green 
grass circles around Omaha—the farmers 
haul tanks of cream and wagon loads of cheese. 
  
Shale hogbacks across the river at Council 
Bluffs—and shanties hang by an eyelash to 
the hill slants back around Omaha. 
  
A span of steel ties up the kin of Iowa and 
Nebraska across the yellow, big-hoofed Missouri River. 
Omaha, the roughneck, feeds armies, 
Eats and swears from a dirty face.
Omaha works to get the world a breakfast.