D.Greaves

Well Veresed. Never Rehearsed.

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    GENTRIFIED

    Gent

    well i

    woke up this mornin

    got on my knees

    and prayed to my god

    took a long shower 

    and got dressed for my job

    then it dawned on me

    i couldnt remember the last time

    in my neighborhood 

    someone was carjacked

    now brother i aint complainin

    but facts are facts

    there is an old sayin

    the more things change

    the more they stay the same

    lord knows philly still has a lot of

    anger 

    rage and pain

    but the neighborhood where i usta buy weed

    with too many seeds

    i now buy a bagel whole grain

    and a 5 dollar cup of orange juice

    freshly strained

    i can walk across the street

    to  the jewish delicatesson

    and buy a good pastrami on rye

    guess my part of philly

    is officially 

    gentrified

     

    fishtown usta be

    smelly as its  name

    then the young yuppies moved in

    and the  median income

    started to change

     

    northern liberties usta be

    a part of gritty

    north philly

    now folks sit at outdoor cafes

    laughin and lookin pretty

     

    roxborough and manayunk

    been kool for a while

    there is some pretty good watering holes

    up on the manayunk mile

     

    temple university

    has  broad street

    bright 

    with stadium lights

    with campus police

    security

    and philly pee dee

    a dealer dont have much of a fight

     

    south street usta be 

    a place i could find a cheap thrill

    now i see potted plants

    restin on windowsills

     

    down on the delaware river

    me and my high school friends

    would take pellet guns 

    and shoot the river rats

    waitin our turn

    now there are condos rising up

    where in the kitchens

    beans  dont burn

     

    down in south philly

    property values 

    are reachin the sky

    ask some of the old residents

    they know i dont lie

    i remeber after eagles games

    at veterans stadium

    we would just stop and take a piss

    now the neighborhood is so in demand

    to buy a house 

    brother put your name on a list

     

    university of pennsylvania

    made 30 blocks of west philly

    university city

    out in love park

    i see long hairs singin mellancamp ditties

    hell

    jack n diane

    wouldnt  believe their eyes

    if they left and came back 

    to see some parts of philly

    gentrified

     

    now

    10 blocks southwest

    from  where i live

    there is still alotta folks 

    who take more than they give

    my momma and dad live down

    by old cobbs creek

    in that part of philly

    life  aint none too sweet

    after a hard days night 

    you gotta park 2 blocks  from your house

    and if you hear a gun shot

    ya better not look out

    i ask mom how is everything

    she said

    son this neighborhood usta be nice

    now it feels like i am slumming

    old mr frank died

    2 days later  they stole all of his 

    indoor plumbing

    she still dreams of building a house in barbados

    retiring to the island

    but for now she lives in a part of philly

    that still has racial profilin

    like the old  philly tradition

    of putting chairs out to protect a parkin spot

    you shoveled free of snow

    some places there are so many ghetto 

    weeds that roses cant grow

    still she smiles and gives me a hug

    thankin me for stoppin by

    startin the fish to fry

    in a part of philly 

    that aint gentrified

     

    in philly we have state stores

    where you gotta  buy your 

    likka and wine

    saturday  afternoon was sunny

    and mighty fine

    now dont get me wrong philly aint all

    5 dollar coffee cups

    city government tradition

    is always corrupt

    it is a city  of neighborhoods

    and that is good and bad

    sometimes  progress is so slow

    it is downright sad

    anyway

    i walked in the state store

    to buy  a bottle of wine

    a lady cop said 

    how ya doin

    i  said i am doin fine

    walkin back to my car

    i shook my head at the sight

    never thought i would see the day

    a white cop in my part of philly 

    was polite

    now

    a brother aint paintin all cops as bad

    just the ones that 

    like  to have fun  bein mad

    you see i was born

    with an ebony  brand

    and i fit alot of profiles 

    cuz i have a permanent tan

    so i  drove down my driveway

    now i dont have to search for my trash can

    i stopped  and said what up

    to my favorite trash man

    i said yo blood i have a question

    i dont have to look for my cans anymore

    tell me why

    he said brother dee

    i aint gonna lie

    your part of philly 

    is officially

    gentrified

     

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    All Poetry by D.Greaves/Darwin Greaves by D.Greaves-Darwin Greaves is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
    Based on a work at dgreaves.posterous.com.
    Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://dgreaves.posterous.com/pages/dgreaves-tos

    • 28 March 2011
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    Thanks for stopping by and visiting my site. I hope you enjoy the poetic works shared here.Please feel free to leave a comment and subscribe. You can also find me on Facebook under Darwin Greaves. While there, stop by and like my fan page. Listed under D.Greaves the Poet.

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