“Time enough to make clear the fault-ridden
Paris
Is loved by a goddess, that Helen’s a gift
Only a goddess could have provided.
And who is he to deny a goddess
Even if her gifts only last a day.”
-Carl Dennis
.
.
there was a hellish car accident
in the northbound lanes
of the cocaine super highway
this blistering hot day
it blocked me from traversing
the-cut-in-the-hill
panoramic downhill gateway
leading from the bluegrass state
into cincinnati
i took the circle freeway
to avoid the back up
but it lead me to take a detour
through
my old stomping
grounds
to the eastern gate
i kept uttering aloud to my steering wheel
why the hell am i here?
passed my old high school
whose mascot was lamentably
the trojans
(i smile thinking of the bastard i later dated
who said
i was his helen of troy)
the house where i grew up its
new owners have nearly
paved the entire front year
green helicopter mounted oddly
in withamsville park
to honor vietnam veterans
where the vehement pro-life people stake up
morbid little anti-abortion crosses
the area
has taken on too many seedy storefronts
and check cashing places
though there has been big box progress
it looks like a small town dying
of retail jobs
the state bird of ohio
has become the strip mall
the statue of thomas more remained the same
but saints are unwavering that way
i was oddly relieved
to feel
like i no longer belong there
yet devastated
to lose a city
in a day