[The Montana Professor 19.2, Spring 2009 <http://mtprof.msun.edu>]
John Bardsley
Mathematics
UM-Missoula
The town is like a gruff uncle:
keen hearted, deep souled,
old and unimpressed
with culture and cool,
as unpretentious and proud
as the long-dead Copper King's
once majestic mansion,
unsure of what was lost
when the boom ended,
and what will be lost
as the mine-scar spreads
along the Great Divide.
The town is like a zestful aunt:
full of life and experience, colorful-
ly dressed with a thrift store class,
rings on fingers and toes,
a lover, an artist at heart,
but body ravaged by a long addiction
she can't quite kick,
exacting a price,
payment postponed,
as the mine-scar spreads
along the Great Divide.
As the mine-scar spreads
along the Great Divide,
the price for jobs today
is a mess left for tomorrow.
As the mine-scar spreads
along the Great Divide,
no one seems to notice,
but Mother Mary watches.
As the mine-scar spreads
along the Great Divide,
the town fathers toast
to their own wild success.
As the mine-scar spreads
along the Great Divide,
the Copper King's pockets
are overflowing elsewhere.
[The Montana Professor 19.2, Spring 2009 <http://mtprof.msun.edu>]