Brick City~by Paul F. Lenzi

(Regarding the 50th anniversary of the Newark riots)

 

Brick City

“Urban Decay” by Ricki Mountain

animosities piled

on resentments

generations of tinder

stacked hip deep

in high racial heat

of july sixty-seven

a criminal free-for-all

shook to their feet

the decrepit wood

false-fronted structures

of politics long since

abandoned of

competent leadership

dry public policies

ill-made and laid

among too many sparks

points of origin

plotting a very thin line

between order and chaos

respect and disdain

ignition by voices

of social pathology

fiery language

fomented a blaze that

touched off explosions

its once sturdy bonework

of commerce and industry

now so much flyash

on dissipate winds

this ancient brick city

descended to rubble

and ruin of civil unrest

lifeblood mortar

in hemorrhage circling

a five decade drain

down and into the void

emigration in train

tearing middle class flesh

from the carcass

whose murmuring prayers

for revival are heard

on those rare quiet nights

a revival that needs

well intended

new hearts and new minds

who have bricklaying skills

and a commonweal vision

a vision that sees

the thing loved by the heart

by the whole human heart