Fire and Economics
By: Sinohui

I sit on the corner of King and Story
The busy bees are buzzing
Immigrants line up as stepping-stones
While the mayors hordes ride in
Sipping on Jamba Juice and Starbucks
With promises of improvement funds
Lucrative and attractive future plans

A new version of Tropicana
Which fits the Silicon Valley dreams
Convertibles, perfect weather, micro-chips

Carts carrying paletas and elotes
Are ran off the road
By big black Ford Expeditions
With four wheel drive
Needed to maneuver through the East Side
The mayor doesn't even wave "Hi"

The faces are smiling and the races have changed
False promises and welfare to conglomerates still go down

As we grocery shop and walk home with the carts
For fear of moving our cars
And losing our parking spot

Luxury lofts going up in Santana Row
For low income folks that make double a teachers salary
Built with million dollar city subsidies

While my sister couldn't afford to put my nieces into preschool
You must be homeless to qualify for housing assistance or Head Start

These things seem to be of little concern
But today when I looked up at the sky and saw
Clouds of smoke
Retail developments that won't open this fall
Places reserved for only those with big faces

I thought about the changing faces of racism
The evils that continue to be like Chinese finger locks
Dividing communities

I realized that what I saw was
Smoke and the smell of burning crosses
Redevelopment projects
One way or another lit by economics

 

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Poetry