Langston Hughes, "Steel Mills" (1925)
That grind and grind,
That grind out new steel
And grind away the lives
Of men,--
In the sunset
Their stacks
Are great black silhouettes
Againset the sky.
In the dawn
They belch red fire.
The mills,--
Grinding out new steel,
Old men.
Published in The Messenger, February 1925