Once upon a time,
in a land not too far away
A sleepy little town
along Highway 29 lay
Post World War II,
developments shiny and new
Six Thousand Dollars for a Ranch Style 3 and 2
A slice of the suburbs,
an American Dream
Flash forward, generations times three
Broken
Disenfranchised
Left with only memories
and stories that start with “there was a time”
“There was a time”
We rode horses in the street
and dirt bikes in the grove
and where did the old schoolhouse steps go?
Everything once special, now destroyed
Paoli Loop renamed
Lillyville demolished…🎶they put up a parking lot
The neighborhood is changing
History erased
Warehouses and Box Stores and McMansions tarnish the landscape
Priced out of our childhood homes
Third generation vermin
weary of outsiders
Branded hooligan
lost in the trauma of being left behind
in a land gentrified.
in a land not too far away
A sleepy little town
along Highway 29 lay
Post World War II,
developments shiny and new
Six Thousand Dollars for a Ranch Style 3 and 2
A slice of the suburbs,
an American Dream
Flash forward, generations times three
Broken
Disenfranchised
Left with only memories
and stories that start with “there was a time”
“There was a time”
We rode horses in the street
and dirt bikes in the grove
and where did the old schoolhouse steps go?
Everything once special, now destroyed
Paoli Loop renamed
Lillyville demolished…🎶they put up a parking lot
The neighborhood is changing
History erased
Warehouses and Box Stores and McMansions tarnish the landscape
Priced out of our childhood homes
Third generation vermin
weary of outsiders
Branded hooligan
lost in the trauma of being left behind
in a land gentrified.
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About the Author
Keri Azevedo is a Creative Writing Major, minoring in Critical Social Thought, and on track to graduate Spring 2025. She was inspired to write this poem for Steve Dickison's CW 301 - Fundamentals of Creative Writing Class in the Fall 2023 term as a part of a multi-week and assignment journey exploring hometown roots. |