I Am the People, the Mob
—by Carl Sandburg

I am the people—the crowd—the mass.
Do you know that all the great work of the world is done through 
me?
I am the workingman, the inventor, the maker of the world's food 
and clothes.
I am the audience that witnesses history. The Napoleons come from
me and the Lincolns. They die. And then I send forth more
Napoleons and Lincolns.
I am the seen ground. I am a prairie that will stand for much plowing
Terrible storms pass over me. I forget. The best of me is
sucked out and wasted. I forget. Everything but Death comes
to me makes me work and give up what I have. And I forget.
Sometimes I growl, shake myself and spatter a few red drops for
history to remember. Then—I forget.
When I, the People, learn to remember, when I, the People, use
the lessons of yesterday and no longer forget who robbed me
last year, who played me for a fool—then there will be no speaker
in all the world say the name: "The People," with fleck of 
a sneer in his voice or any far-off smile of derision.
The mob—the crowd—the mass—will arrive then.

Page last updated 10 Dec 2006
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