Inspired

"Neighborhoods Are Memories"

I took a drive
Through my old city
The place where I grew up
Saw buildings, once so alive
With light and life, commerce
Now they are barely left standing
Vacant as the lots
Fields by my old house
In my old neighborhood
The suburbs where I lived and grew
Where we rode our bikes
In safety, through each other's yards
But no one has a backyard, anymore
The houses have been packed in
Tightly, like sardines in a tin can
Crushed, like our once forgotten dreams
No more driveways to play in
As the two-car garages take up space

You can't hear the playful laughter
Of children as they are screaming
Since more houses are being built
Only the sound of saws, carpenters

I want to erect a monument
A statue,
In place at the foot of the entrance
To my neighborhood
With a plaque that would read as follows"
"To all the childhoods lost among the wreckage
Of this built up infrastructure...
We will never forget you"

Where's the imagination gone
When we used to ride our bikes
And pretend to fight a war
Against the days of our youth
Getting older seemed as distant
As the growing number of stars
As we played through the neighborhood
Deep into the latest hours of those summer nights

It was quiet then
And we could hear each other's mothers
Call us in for sleep (or dinner)
Now you only hear the steady hum
Of engines as the sports cars drive by
Heading to work
Coming home again

When did we grow up
Where did adulthood come from
It seemed like just yesterday
I helped you jump the fence
And we set to work defacing
The underside of the overpass
Just on the outskirts
Of our safe little suburb
Where the cops could chase us
Until the invisible line
Where our parents let us take refuge
And we dealt with the pain
Of growing up
And leaving home
Only to come back and start all over again

Now our lives
Seem to have changed so fast
To a time of reckless abandonment
To constant fears of retribution
For unanswered crimes
And foreclosures on homes
We couldn't afford, at the time
Phone calls from banks
When statements go unpaid

We find insurance in each other's arms
Brothers and sisters in arms
Against paying exuberant taxes
No one sits on porches and just relaxes
Anymore
Like we did as children
With the wind at our backs
Now blowing in our faces
The clocks tick only to mock us

Can you hear the children laughing
Playing in the front yard

We used to be that small
We used to be the ones waiting