Amnesty-Town Horror Poem by Robert Sheridan

Amnesty-Town Horror



Speculation, imagination, a fabricated event
Conclusions reached, some however, remained unconvinced
Suburbia got its name from its false hopes builder
Mass produced, widely regarded, postwar for certain.

Amnesty-Town, a ‘planned’ community, built between ’47 & ‘51
Built on potato farms, known-as Island Trees
A development, booming start,2,000+ to be rented
Eliminated basements, concrete slabs, homes built cheaper & faster.

Building codes were modified in certain areas where the need for housing was urgent
To keep costs down, used contractors that were non-union
Production-line technique met with heavy opposition
Communities had schools, etc., etc., hundreds of Vets kept applying.

GI homeowners settled-in, spawned families
Residents soon felt they lived in a congenial community
Initial leases prohibited non-whites, racial exclusivity
Boiled-down to being overly-sanitized, non-conformism, &
non-homogeneity.

No real amnesty for ex-soldiers, or city dwellers
Afternoon rumors, silence invaded, residents revolted
Suburbs suppose to represent what the American family wants
In the real world their terrifying, end result was death of the soul.

Incubators of apathy & delirium, suppressed idle details, just as one’s memory does
But today humans still dwell in the ‘burbs’
“Hey, with four closets, two shrubs, & one tree
Good for the children, but come on, not a place for grown-ups to be.”

Stamped-out, cookie-cutter homes become slums
No signs of life, no concrete proof
All suburbanites have a duty to act, gild the gloom
Good news though, new neighborhood awaits, time is on the side of the outcasts.

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