"I began ringing doorbells. Only one man answered; he came out wearing overalls. I asked if he would talk with me about the data center, and a poem. He ... (opens in new tab)

"I began ringing doorbells. Only one man answered; he came out wearing overalls. I asked if he would talk with me about the data center, and a poem. He looked up at the sky, considering my proposal. 'No,' he said." —Thomas John Weber for The Paris Review class="ellipsis">theparisreview.org/blog/2026/05/21/building-a-data-center-in-pine-island-minnesota/?src=longreads