I was in old territory today...
The slums

The public light-rail line is new and unmarked
The ever-present Transit Police
Seem determined to keep this jewel untarnished.

The faces and bodies of my fellow passengers
Did not have the faces and bodies
Of the people in my neighborhood.

But they were familiar to me:
The poor
The tired
The church-going crowd
The Sunday labor crowd

I talked with a fellow from Trinidad
With a *shop* somewhere.

I saw the despair of South Central L.A.
Pass, in square miles and miles, by my window.

I saw a tired young mother
With grim visage, eyes closed
Allowing her young boy to rest his cheek
On her still sweet bosom.

I saw new-building growth
Over the sadness of the most recent riots
Emblazoned with words of hope.

As I left the last stop
No-one walked with me
Toward the sterile hotel fortress...

Just $1.60 from LAX
----------------------------

11/02/1997

Posted on 11/30/2001
Copyright © 2024 Ronald A Pavellas