English poem
The Cities Of White Men
by Hartley Burr Alexander (1873–1939)
Those men build many houses: They dig the earth, and they build; They cut down the trees, and they build; They work always--building.
From the elevation of the mountain-side I behold the clouds: The clouds build many beautiful houses in the sky: They build, and they tear down; They build, and they dissolve....
The cities of white men, They are not beautiful, like the cloud cities; They are not vast, like the cloud cities....
A wind-swept teepee Is all the house I own....
Thou dost touch the World with many reflections, With parting injunctions many,-- Thy thought thou hast given us. ]