The Aqueduct
The stones are there, massive, carefully measured,
channeled for water from its pure source
to thirsty citizens and fields of grain.
Imagine peace—for grandsire and grandson,
three times over.
No weeping parents for those lost in continual war
and absence of tribal slaughter, ethnic cleansing.
We are the world’s great power
but we’re not the force the Romans were.
Lari Smith