Sidewalk Dilemmas Poem by Cailey Martin

Sidewalk Dilemmas



The sidewalks in this city are positively filthy,
Trampled over by millions of leather-clad feet.
Some bare feet, too.
Dead flies, dead cigarettes.
Chewing gum spit from spiteful cheeks,
Chewing gum dropped discreetly from sweaty fingers,
All of it turned from pink and white
And minty green to blobs of
Almost-black on the concrete below.
And so the tourists step in it,
Gobs of blob on their European shoes,
Gum streeeetched and snapped
As the shoes continue on their way,
Gum growing hard with age on top of
A passage harder still with age
But at least with some
Spiderwebbing cracks to show for it.
And all this chewing gum, pink and white
And minty green alike, all turn to the same shade
Of gray, the gray you find on the bottoms of
Feet, some leather-clad and some bare, too.
And so the question becomes,
What to do when dirt and flies
And cigarettes and cracks and chewing gum
Have so expanded into a layer on our city,
That it is no longer practical to avoid?
Eyes above the grime;
Pretend not to see it because
It’s the only thing that makes us feel better.

Sunday, August 30, 2015
Topic(s) of this poem: city,environment,pollution,urban
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Kelly Kurt 30 August 2015

Wow. A powerfully written, editorial poem, Cailey. Very nice!

1 0 Reply
Cailey Martin 31 August 2015

Thank you, Kelly!

0 0
Fabrizio Frosini 30 August 2015

'' Eyes above the grime; / Pretend not to see it because / It’s the only thing that makes us feel better. '' yeah.. how right you're..

1 0 Reply
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