Seattle, Then and Now

When I was young, it wasn't hard to bum
Around the town: a part-time job, a cheap
And dumpy place. My food stamps bought
Me chewy steaks. My feet and city buses
Took me everywhere I had to go, and I had
So much precious time. The library almost
Was home. The streets downtown, the city
Market, parks, the Sound, the art museum,
All were places I would play, and, if the weather
Got too hot, the lake was half an hour's walk.
I'd kill an afternoon beside it, swimming,
Gazing at the Cascades. Then I'd come back
On the bus. That life drained me of all ambition.
I became a useless man, and, now, far off
In space and time, I find it hard to disagree
With those who say that I never amounted to
Too much of anything.

We'll see who cares when we are dead.

Alas, that town is not the same. It's gotten
Grossly overcrowded, choked with traffic.
Rents are high. A part-time job, most full-time
Jobs, won't pay enough for decent meals
Or anyplace to stay, and, thus, poor J,
Who isn't quite so keen on bumming
As was I, cannot survive, despite ambition.
She thinks she may move down here.
I, of course, am overjoyed. “Whatever
I have will be yours. You'll find a job.
Perhaps you'll stay,” and that cold
Shouldered city's loss will turn into
My gain.



Poetry by Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 69 times
Written on 2018-08-21 at 15:59

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