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Not-So-Home Town
by Delilah CoyneThrongs of people,
like ants,
make haste to here and there.
Angry fists and speeding cars,
honking horns.
The hurried hustle suffocates
and closes in, on what was,
ten years ago, a quiet town.
Too much congestion
and buildings begin to block
the blue sky,
whose blue is less blue than before.
Unfamiliar faces
clog streets and cafes that,
in my youth,
were cozy and quaint.
Black top gleams where rocks once rolled
as cars bumped along,
careful not to sling the gravel.
A ten minute drive
is now half an hour's wait
in lines of traffic
that inch along at a snail's pace.
My rural town has grown
too big for it's britches
and city haste has clouded
country charm with
car exhaust and strip malls.
The sleepy highway now groans
under six lanes of molten asphalt
clogged with business men and soccer moms.
I miss the laid back calm
and small town feel
of this place ten years ago.
03/06/2007 Author's Note: Just needed to vent, mainly. Since Hurricane Katrina, my area has tripled in population. Many people from the southshore of Lake Ponchartrain have relocated here and we are experiencing major growing pains.
Posted on 03/06/2007
Copyright © 2025 Delilah Coyne
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Soulo Jacob Bourgeau on 03/06/07 at 11:37 PM Delilah, your poem describes the claustrophobic metropolitization that has become characteristic of many American cities of varying demographics. Whether Covington, LA or Phoenix, AZ, I think most of us feel your frustration. Thanks for provoking my mind on this topic. |
| Posted by Christel Crews on 03/08/07 at 04:42 AM this is so true of many small towns across the states.. you've captured the change that makes me sad |
| Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 07/22/07 at 02:02 AM Your apt description fits a lot of places in these United States. It surely fits the area in which I live to a T and no Katrina to blame! |
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