25
Strange that the youngest people I know
Live in the oldest buildings
Scattered about the city
In the dark rooms
Of the past—and the immigrants,
The black
Rectangular buildings
Of the immigrants.
They are the children of the middle class.
‘The pure products of America—’
Investing
The ancient buildings
Jostle each other
In the half-forgotten, that ponderous business.
This Chinese Wall.
— from George Oppen’s “Of Being Numerous”