Walking in Dead Men’s Shoes (circa 1920)

lumber barons,
captains of industry
making money
off the land and the workers
clearing the hillsides
killing the rivers
all to feed the paper mills,
so that there will be paper
for the writers to write stories
for the newspapers to print
about how the lumber barons
and captains of industry
are fighting the unions
and clearing the hillsides
and killing the rivers

While the captains of industry are busy
luring young men off the farms
to work in the factories
where they join the unions
and they build farm machinery
to sell to the farmers
who are selling the farms
because their sons have all left
to work in the factories

While the farmers sell their land
to the industry workers
who now have money
to buy lumber and paper
to build their houses
and read the stories
about how the lumber barons
and captains of industry
are clearing the hillsides
killing the rivers
fighting the unions
and luring young men off the farms

And the lumber barons
and the captains of industry
built twenty room mansions
with wrap-around porches
and carriage sheds with stables and quarters
But when the trees and farms were all gone
the factories shut down
the workers moved away
and the twenty room mansions
were sold or inherited
by people who couldn’t afford
to properly maintain them
and they fell into disrepair
and the hillsides were clear
the rivers were dead
the unions had left
the farms were all gone
and everyone ended up
walking in dead men’s shoes