Sincerest Flattery

All these high cliffs seem grand and beautiful
To people, since they are large and crumbling.

The little town at the foot of the cliffs
Seems scruffy to people, since it is small

And crumbling. Yes, well, people made the town
Of solemn, swaybacked horses and houses,

Yards filled with assorted rusted machines,
Chickens penned in sagging chain-link fences.

Maybe they just unconsciously assumed
An imitation of geology.

The great sandstone cliffs leave cluttered boulders,
Stones, pebbles, fine sand blowing everywhere.

It’s an exercise in falling apart
Gradually, sweeping nothing away.