Mid-western wheat hissed
Through stainless steel funnels
Flowing from concrete silos
Crashes heavily against
Thick plank floors
And rough-hewn walls
Billions of firecrackers
Exploding in clouds of dust
Dry warm bread scented
Parched waves of grain
Flow to the dark corners
Of dusty cars with names
Like Norfolk Southern
And Wabash and
Erie-Lackawanna all
Painted in block letters
White over faded red
Paint applied years ago
Longshoremen Hanley Connors
Cleary Lynch Fitzgerald and others
Invisibly loading railcars
Stretching back to Kansas
Wheat held in reserve until
Remote famine somewhere
Enables a positive return on investment.