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

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.
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