Children Planning a Town
scoop it up, pat it out
while the cement mixer churns,
design the roads, pressing
palms against the sand,
while the scaffolding goes up
and now mounding the earth
into walls because this is where
the school is and the playground
is right here by the pond
while the condominium rises,
and oh, the pond, pour some water,
find some twiggy things and flowers
for the park and special rocks,
while the neighborhood is blasted,
and also some little stones to line
the path from my house to yours
—Elizabeth Schultz
