I am the People, the Mob

by Carl Sandburg

I Am the People, the Mob

I am the people- the mob- the
     crowd- the mass.
Do you know that all the great
     work of the world is done
     through me?
I am the workingman, the inventor,
     the maker of the world's food
     and clothes.
I am the audience that witnesses history
     The Napoleons come from me and the 
     Lincolns. They die. And then I send
     forth more Napoleons and Lincolns.
I am the seed ground.  I am a prairie
     that will stand for much plowing.
     Terrible storms pass over me.  I
     forget.  The best of me is sucked
     out and wasted.  I forget.  Every-
     thing but Death comes to me and 
     makes me work and give up
     what I have.  And I forget.
Sometimes I growl, shake myself and 
     spatter a few red drops for History
     to remember.  Then-I forget.
When I, the People, learn to remember,
     when I, the People, use the 
     lessons of yesterday and no longer
     forget who robbed me last year,
     who played me for a fool- then
     there will be no speaker in all
     the world say the name: "The 
     People," with any fleck of a sneer
     in his voice or any far-off smile
     of derision.
The mob- the crowd- the mass- 
     will arrive then.

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