Poetic Ode to Detroit.

I'm really excited about going home tomorrow. Motown. The Motor City. The Dirty Glove. The D. I'll be leaving my laptop in GA so I can enjoy a beautiful weekend with my incredible family. In honor of my trip, I've decided to leave you with a piece from my collection, [If] Life's Rotten, Write to the Core. It may be a repost, but this is one of my favorite pieces, so enjoy.

Where I’m From

I’m from the rubble-lined streets
Of the city ’67 tore down
Carcasses of structures still stand as
Dream catchers against a hazy sky
Where hair reached high as Gods
Beauty shops and churches on every other corner
With liquor stores doted in between
We rock gators
We pimp out our cars
And hoes
We twist our slang
And deny our subtle accents
Where we can catch bearded men in nothing but socks
Strutting downtown
Where the iron fist sits
Reminiscent of the movement
That we somehow lost lately
In a land of both shamelessness and pride
I’m from confusion
Where eight lanes divide more than north and south
Where walls are implied by “routine” police stops
The home of Black Bottom
And Paradise Valley
Bulldozed by urban renewal
And disregard for the disenfranchised
Which lingers on through each street
Through each boulevard and Mile road
I’m from where the 60s sound still echoes though alleys
Where cats get blunted in parked cars
With Slum Village preaching in the background
Where “What up doe” replaces “Hello”
And goodbyes lie along deep gutters
I’m from where people move along the sky
And high rises fall short
And smoke stacks kiss the stars
Where 2 a.m. marks the end of nightlife
And nothing’s open but legs
And Coney Islands
Where morning’s introduced over a dark river
And the 10 is bumper to bumper by 8:30 a.m.
I’m from the land everyone loves to hate to want to leave
Where humbleness is equated with virtue
And a little thug resides in us all
Because you’ve got to be hard
Where self-protection is innate by name
In the dirty glove


(Note - Doted: to be lavish or excessive in one's attention, fondness, or affection)

Copyright Ain HD ©2009

2 Engage in Discourse:

Lite }{ said...

Officially Enjoyed it.

... said...

Nice! Thanks for the tour through Motown.

 
 
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