Ode to the Rouge River Ford plant

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TARNISHED HEROES

Ode to the Rouge River Ford plant

Sometimes someone shines

an illuminating light

on one of your youthful heroes,

tarnishing his/her likeness,

and you have to take time to

reevaluate your evaluation

of the value of this person,

So you resurrect your old self,

of your naively perfect world view.

compassionately holding values

you hold dear

in an imperfect world

that is trying to be perfect,

and yet is tarnished

in so many parts of the land.

Richard MacKay

PHOTO BY SCOTT HOCKING

“Zug Island, the Solvay Process brownfield, and Site of the Great Mound” (2008), from Scott Hocking’s photo series “The Mound Project” (2007-present), Detroit, Michigan. In this series, Hocking photographs the sites of former Indigenous mounds and constructs art-installation mounds, one of the few projects that brings Detroit’s lost earthworks into the public eye.