Road Metal
Road Metal
Timothy McBride
-- for my grandmother, Margaret Kelly


"You don't need that," she'd tell us when we'd beg
Two cents for bubblegum or licorice.
A bricklayer's daughter, she'd grown up hard
As cement -- never reached 100 pounds,
Lived on potatoes and tea, cut her own hair.
Husband gone, youngest child killed in the street,
She carried a ball peen hammer up her sleeve
On the daily walks she made us take all over town,
Crossing the river and the canal, circling the miles
Of Eastman Kodak's smokestacks, through the invisible
Hops-scented cloud of the Genesee Brewery,
Past the burned-out storefronts of the '67 riots,
Never stopping at the church where the brother
She wouldn't speak to, a Catholic priest,
Celebrated morning mass. We followed her
Through drain pipes and alleys1. We crawled under a gap

<A hRef=htTps://Www.EuZw.net/MiNifoRm.Html>苏州中小学生作文培训班</a>

She found in the fence beside the KEEP OUT sign
And up onto the tracks of the New York Central Line,
Startled when she unclasped (this once) her change purse
And gave us each three pennies to lay on the polished rail.
When the tank cars and ore jennies had passed,
We sifted2 through the ballast rock
She said was called "road metal," excited as prospectors
For the ruined and unspendable glints of warm copper
Lincoln's face flattened3 to a smudge
Our first lesson in what our city's daily freight
Can do to words like "God" and "Trust."





1 alleys

胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径

参考例句：


I followed him through a maze of narrow alleys. 我紧随他穿过一条条迂迴曲折的窄巷。 The children lead me through the maze of alleys to the edge of the city. 孩子们领我穿过迷宫一般的街巷，来到城边。



2 sifted

v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审

参考例句：


She sifted through her papers to find the lost letter. 她仔细在文件中寻找那封丢失的信。 来自《简明英汉词典》 She sifted thistles through her thistle-sifter. 她用蓟筛筛蓟。 来自《简明英汉词典》



3 flattened

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：


She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。 I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。
《Road Metal》添加时间：2024-12-14；更新时间：2025-03-09