Read this excerpt from "Homework." [I’d] Rinse down the Acid Rain over the Parthenon & Sphinx, Drain the Sludge out of the Mediterranean basin & make it azure again, Put some blueing back into the sky over the Rhine. . . . What is the author’s connection to the social and political issues of his day? He hopes to restore fading monuments. He longs to clean-up the world’s pollution. He wants to paint pictures of natural wonders. He aspires to travel to foreign landmarks.