by Erle Kelly
A brown rail cuts behind byways and backdoors.
The Blue Line travels through the grit of South L.A.
Manufacturing gone, waste and a rust belt left for the poor.
Junk yards, iron works, machine shops dot its core.
Small green belts sandwiched in where children play.
A brown rail cuts behind driveways and front doors.
Houses, yards wrapped in iron hear the light rails roar.
Young toughs with drugs abound, keep their community at bay.
Manufacturing gone, waste and a rust belt left for the poor.
“Willow,” “Compton,” “Vernon”: stops to explore?
Locals trapped in minimum wage can’t get away.
A brown rail cuts behind alleys, ditches and side doors.
Fast food haven, dotted with 7-11s but no big box grocery stores.
Meals of sugar and fat: overweight and disease the price to pay.
Manufacturing gone, waste and a rust belt left for the poor.
End of line: steel glass towers cast shadows on financial whores.
While Mexican families enjoy Olvera Street’s dance and sway.
Manufacturing gone, waste and a rust belt left for the poor.
A brown rail cuts behind alleys, byways and back doors.
Erle Kelly is a resident of Long Beach, California and graduated from California State University Long Beach. He belongs to a poetry workshop conducted by Donna Hilbert.
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