Go South from Marblehead and weep for heroes.
Beyond the fogs of Massachusetts Bay
The dream of China spun the farm boys out
From God and granite into Smuggler’s Way
Go North from Plymouth past the tanneries
That foul the creek beside the settlers’ graves,
And weep the Eagle out of Medforde Towne
For rum, molasses, and the shackled slaves.
Climb Beacon Hill for rank and carven lintels
And fragrant memories and sacraments
Of ancestry and everblooming Mayflower,
And monthly rentals from the tenements.
Go West, go East, and weep the memory
Of Iron Gods athwart the clippers’ hulls
The lost race of old schoolbooks and desire
That rode between the White Whale and the gulls.
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