Demolition of a steel products mill in Ambridge

By Sr. Sally Witt

How long has it been
since sun has touched this ground
where a steel mill stood for decades?

Months ago a fire halted all production.
Now an excavator arm
claws the brick and metal structure.

Beams weaken, fall –
sun squeezes in where machines and chemicals once reigned,
where workers walked in heavy gear.

How many decades ago
did this land last see a spot of sun?
Does the ground remember
when a rush of wind
last brushed its surface?

I pray that soon the neighbors
will see more sky;
that land made foul by constant productivity
may feel the sun’s caress this very day;

that all of us
may find release from walls and roofs
demanding unrelenting usefulness,
that with the land beneath this falling building
we may welcome wind’s rush and sun’s embrace
on all we have ignored
long decades deep within ourselves.