Just a week ago I resided on West Tioga Street.
Blending into an unaccustomed scenery.
Approaching with suspicion- a hunter's mentality.
But there was no time for barbaric introspection.
I was on a different mission otherwise unidentified.

The Iroquois people presided over Tioga long ago.
Carving arrows yet craving peace.
They longed for a place to call their own.
But our ancestors destroyed their homes with their souls.
Running them to foreign lands with nothing but petrified reflections.

Now West Tioga Street is stricken with poverty.
Filled with senseless robbery and abandoned properties.
But I dug a little deeper- scratching the underlying atrocities.
These people just want ethical policies protecting their families.
These people just want quality establishments to secure themselves financially.

What is the difference between Tioga now and Tioga then?
Why must we implement ancient actions again?
Resorting to institutional animosity capable of destroying communities.
Sometimes I worry about this land of opportunity.
Where snobbery and inequality override accomplishing things honorably.