Chicago poem

a parody, with lines by Carl Sandburg & photography by man of aran

Chicago morning through a plate-glass window, photo by alan girling

I visited Chicago a few years ago, and the above scene brought a poem to mind, Fog, by Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), which was published in his first volume of poetry, Chicago Poems, in 1916. Fog is easily the most well-known poem from that collection. I imagine it’s been parodied more than a few times.

Miasma (parody of Fog*, by Carl Sandburg)

The miasma comes
on large, lumbering dragon feet. 

It sits brooding 
over river and town
on the quaking fundament
of a little cat.

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*Fog
by Carl Sandburg

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.