As he crossed the Isthmus, the idea did form.
-A way to avoid the coastal storm.
How would this land Balboa transform?
A passageway could save months at sea.
-His proposal as the canal’s conferee.
An easier passage he could foresee.
But nothing happened until hundreds of years later.
When along came a French innovator.
With the loss of life, Lesseps was a poor estimator.
USA picked up where Europe and France failed.
They architected the idea to scale.
They thought their plans they had detailed.
They could not predict the high death toll,
As they tried to build a massive hole.
They’d have to get this under control.
In all, over twenty-two thousand people died.
For this great oceanic stride,
To effectively carry ships to the other side.
Despite the death, disease, and war,
Carter, then Wilson, the idea to restore.
January 1914, the lock opened its door.
Alexandre La Valley, the first in the canal to cross,
By using the canal, it saves thousands of miles lost,
Keeping sea-hands and passengers from exhaust.
The Panama Canal is a miraculous feat,
Saving time and money to the oceanic fleet,
Making the loss of months at sea obsolete.
Let’s remember the lives sacrificed for this gift,
That makes traveling around the states swift.
When we think of it, let our gratitude lift.
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Panama Canal
by Stephanie Daich
