From “The Windy City”
Winds of the Windy City, come out of the prairie,
all the way from Medicine Hat.
Come-out of the inland sea-blue water, come where they
nickname a city for you.
Corn wind in the fall, come off the black lands,
come off the whisper of the silk hangers,
the lap of the flat spear leaves.
Blue-water wind in summer, come off the blue miles
of lake, carry your inland sea-blue fingers,
carry us cool, carry your blue to our homes.
White spring winds, come off the bag-wool clouds,
come off the running melted snow, come white
as the arms of snow-born children.
Gray fighting winter winds, come along on the tearing
blizzard tails, the snouts of the hungry
hunting storms, come fighting gray in winter.
Winds of the Windy City,
Winds of corn and sea blue,
Spring wind white and fighting winter gray,
Come home here—they nickname a city for you.
The wind of the lake shore waits and wanders.
The heave of the shore wind hunches the sand piles.
The winkers of the morning stars count out cities
And forget the numbers.
This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on July 28, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.