World Wonders

I stood beneath the Eiffel Tower
and saw the infinite floors bowed and scuffed
by the steps of those marching
the bridges of London, the walls of China,
and more places than I will know
through any tomorrows.

It was the arching of those feet above me that
made me think of the sore thighs of those armies
climbing pyramids and staying the damn.
It made me think of the pounding work
necessary to hold down the years. 

Heels dug into souls
as I pitied those who have ever had to know a cause.
I realized how their clothes had schemed with them
to maintain the smile of order and health, and allegiance,
to trick me into pledging.

In those beautiful infinite planes of illuminated steel,
I saw how even the snow-covered Alps grin wickedly
at the irony of their deception –
how they quietly rock their adventurous dead.
Amber waves overwhelm me
as I begin to feel the tiles crumbling and falling
from the airy ceiling above.

I have to turn my face from the deliberate debris,
place an open hand to hold the page.
The glitter makes me close my eyes and I lose sight
of the fiction but at least
I understand why the Tower leans.