~ with apologies to Carl Sandburg ~
Tar sands for the World,
Slurry maker, Cracker of Bitumen,
Player with Draglines and Bucket Wheels, the Nations Oil maker;
Stormy, husky, freezing, brawling,
City of Massive Machines:
They tell me you are dusty and I believe them, for I
have seen your endless lines of buggy-whipped pickups
and snarling diesel buses moving under a cloud as they
return from the pits.
And they tell me you are ever growing and I
answer: I have travelled your bumpy roads and
seen your highway twinning happening.
I have seen endless complexes of triple-stacked,
new wood housing, climbing the hills; staring
windowless eyes and doorless mauws waiting to
swallow a new platoon of the young, enticed by
the promise of riches: twelve on and twelve off.
I say, show me another city with the eagerness of
youth, the frentic desire to grasp and succeed
and accomplish, here, in the wilderness, at the end
of the bridge going nowhere: and I know you cannot!
Fierce as a lean coyote, snapping, savage, surviving,
pitted against the wilderness and the oil sands,
Hardhatted, Safety vested,
Aggressive, Shovelling,
Dragging, Driving,
Planning, Building,
Reclaiming, Planting,
Herding Bison.
Under the sheen of sweat and effort you laugh
as you meet and defeat challenges.
Under the burden of the world's need, you meet
deadlines and the crude fills a million barrels a day!
You revel in the enjoyment of successful youth, proud
to be in the True North Strong and Free,
Proud to be the Worlds Tar Sands Oil Maker;
Stormy, husky, freezing, brawling,
City of Massive Machines.
~ C. Mac. ~
LBT is committed to creating
designs that reflect a sense of pride and a positive
outlook towards Ft. McMurray, a town the world is just
getting to know.