Bull Durham
A poem about Durham by a Duke fellow in geriatric medicine on the 150th anniversary of the city
Robert Kaiser, a fellow in geriatric medicine, has had several published poems and will have an upcoming poem in They Wrote Us a Poem, an anthology of poems by members of the Duke community. Below is a poem he wrote in Nov. 2000 at the time of the closing of the Liggett and Myers tobacco factory in downtown Durham. He said he remembered the poem this year because Durham is celebrating its 150th anniversary.
Bull Durham Tobacco Town Where trains still whistle Their arrival And are heard by Empty buildings In which cured leaves Were once turned to money.
Bull Durham Now long gone Beyond the railroad tracks Where cars once carried cargo Which fed men and women Who built a depot Into a village And then a city.
Bull Durham Vertex of The Triangle Where autos cram Congested highways And the smoky remnants Of faraway days Wisp slowly through the air And disappear.