Places Of Affection. (original) (raw)

There are places we once held dear
places of our fondest affection
where we learned to play in childhood
to imagine, to become who were to be
now gone, vanished before our very eyes
and we cannot find them anymore
because we don't even recognize them
they have been knocked down, bulldozed, paved over
rebuilt in urban sprawl, urban development
urban sameness
what was known and cherished
torn down to make way for progress
only we did not progress
but simply slid deeper into
uniformity
conformity
our individuality franchised
our small towns bypassed
our mom & pops eliminated
our streets widened
our fences raised
our neighborhoods destroyed
these places gone forever
along with our favorite memories
stolen from us by unknown thieves
who do not care that they have hijacked our history
obliterated our heritage
by paving over our woods, our farms, our playgrounds
turning our special places
into developments, subdivisions, shopping malls
leaving us only asphalt and cold steel
our originality substituted with the artificial
our country now a land of blandness and artificial turf
where finally the only remaining patches of green
will be the grass on our sad forgotten graves
and there will be no one left to remember
these places as they were
so deeply held in our hearts
once
our places of affection.

©

d.knape
June 1, 2013
More "Once Upon A Line" - Light verse and poetry by d.knape
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