~
It's hard now--continually difficult and dissatisfying.
How did I get to this place?
How did I not see it coming?
Were there signs I missed?
I stand on the top of the west bluffs at sunset,
looking out over the expanse below.
Incoming small planes line up with the runway of the downtown airport
with the rays of the setting sun glinting off of their metal.
They gradually descend over the convergence of the Kaw and The Mighty MO
Traffic still flows on the freeways below, circling the bluffs and
moving on westward over the Lewis & Clark viaduct into Kansas.
The moving headlights form ribbons of light
against the ever-darkening river valley.
I don't see any of the homeless around, but I know they are there--
Invisible! Silent! Hunkering down for another night.
Most people don't see the homeless,
but if every homeless person, at one time, on any given day,
came out onto the sidewalks,
Those above the streets would think it was an invasion.
They would consider extermination instead of aid.
I am aware there is a war going on. It saddens me....
All the young people, just kids, being scarred for life in one way or another.
Soon there will be more homeless,
like those still in our midst from the long-ago Vietnam war.
It isn't fair! It isn't right! It's unthinkable,
but it's a part of us.
As the sun falling below the horizon, streaks the clouds with red and gold,
I take out my little comb and a scrap of old newspaper
I saved from the morning trash
and hum a mournful tune,
making up the words of the song in my head:
The red STOP sign
broken at the base,
lying on the ground,
evidence one failed to see,
or could not stop
in time
The nice young man
lies cold, forever still
upon his bed,
the signs of illness missed
by those who should
have seen.
The paths of life
are wanting choices made;
but all the signs
are not in place, or missed
and cannot be
retraced.
~
The old Kansas City Nut, Bolt & Screw Company being demolished,
taken from beneath the 12th Street viaduct
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