Microcosm Eclectic
Run down
these run-down streets
to witness navigation
and celebration
of disparate cultures
melded,
an ethnic eclectic,
love-of-neighbor ethic,
looking past
deceptive dilapidation
veiling an urban region
beautiful to behold.
The old man
on modified bicycle
rings a daily bell:
fresh pineapple slices,
seasoned mangos.
Taquerias and pho
on every corner,
falafel and curry
around the corner,
diverse variety rivaling
all my world travels,
an urban microcosm
affording privileges
for those such as I,
suburban migrated
to urban sans sub.
Immigrants, the lifeblood
of this space, despite
Executive editing,
resilient in lives
not always made easy
in competitive
urban landscapes,
paving new roads
with prized possessions
packed in mind and heart,
now gifted to others
in clothing, cuisines,
and carnivals,
prized ethnicities shared,
now means of surviving,
perhaps even thriving,
lives new, yet constructed
with familiar materials,
rich provisions passed on
from bygone generations,
holders now building blocks
for new generations, widened
to both insiders and outsiders,
all finding solidarity
on culturally refurbished
run-down streets
previously abandoned.
. . .
Pulling into my driveway,
I’m just in time
to catch Josue
for some of those tamales
my wife loves so much.
Two Vietnamese friends
wave as they walk by.
I wave back.
No, life wasn’t like this
back in the burbs,
a life now, ironically,
so
foreign
to me.
