I wrote this poem for an undergraduate writing class back in 2007. It was written in the style of Oliver Wendell Holmes and commemorates the 40th anniversary of the public opening of the Gateway Arch.
It is possibly the greatest thing I’ve ever written, no cap.
Necessitas
O undulating in the breeze,
For years and years she’s done.
Her curvéd span, her steely hold
Glints, shimm’ring in the sun;
This two-score, monumental queen
She reaches toward the sky;
This gentle giantess — a gem
Of old Saarinen’s eye!
Commemorating men of old
Where west these men would go,
Those journ’ling expeditioners,
Sage of Monticello.
Acclaim she brings upon herself;
It’s palpable to see
Her arcéd form exemplifies
Manifest destiny.
Yet, here she stands and has not moved
This trodden piece of ground;
But could I travel far as she!
She eyes for miles around.
No time, no deluge, could take ‘way
From architecture’s best.
Gaze on the ever-tow’ring arch,
The Gateway to the West!
musings of an everywoman 