Jan 2017
The City in the abstract
People are fearful
The night, the dice
The vice, the crime
Come here and see
We live and bleed
On the streets
For each other
For each of the others
Kept out of the burbs
During the time of GI's
Now that the bleached
From the burbs are moving
They try and run us out
Try to clean the streets
With words of hate
Eyes of division
Tastes too expensive for
Us others
They claim the remedy
To clean these streets
For their pleasing
But please I beg you
Don't you see
These streets were never meant
For you
They were never meant
To be clean
People are fearful
The night, the dice
The vice, the crime
Come here and see
We live and bleed
On the streets
For each other
For each of the others
Kept out of the burbs
During the time of GI's
Now that the bleached
From the burbs are moving
They try and run us out
Try to clean the streets
With words of hate
Eyes of division
Tastes too expensive for
Us others
They claim the remedy
To clean these streets
For their pleasing
But please I beg you
Don't you see
These streets were never meant
For you
They were never meant
To be clean
Context: I was born and raised in San Francisco. As wealthier lighter skinned people flock back into U.S. cities (like San Francisco) from the suburbs they push out all the people of color and working class groups that were originally excluded from other opportunities outside the city. There is a cleansing happening - a form of neocolonialism, driven by capital, built on the backs of the oppressed.
