ALWAYS A WAY

Life under the bridge

with the other no (bank) account people

finding out just what a troll is,

my sloppily inked sign safely hid,

steel trusses starred with rust over my head,

the guttural sound of tires rolling soothe me

in my bed as I lay

and wonder how the other bridge livers

give gravity short shrift

by not rolling to the interstate below.

I found once a bus stop sign

that we installed where

the Red, White and Blue used to go;

none would stop

even if we waved a three dollar bill for fare

I’m assuming it was not for the money

but because the driver knew

among us trolls a shower is rare.

I once lived in house, nothing great,

not in the best of place,

yet kept in pretty good shape.

Then came the days of shrinking pay

and the (t)axes raised and blade fell

one morning a bailiff was at my door

and took it all away simply because I owned it

but could not pay the government rent.

With no address troubles began to cascade.

God knows I tried like so many others did.

I was fired I did not quit.

So here I stay lost my faith in the American way,

dreams are dead as I lay down to sleep on my concrete bed

with a single prayer humbly said:

“please Lord don’t let the vehicle exhaust gas

be too bad on this expressway underpass.

Amen”

© M Durfee

6.26.2013

I was going to title this the American way but it denotes a world wide problem. No I have not lost my house yet, but with the ongoing City of Detroit  financial troubles which far outstrip any other in the nation (except maybe the State of Illinois) at $20 billion in debt over 1/3 of my income and health care are on the block along with 20,000 other retired pensioners. Detroit is now run by a state appointed Emergency Manger who has final say outside of bankruptcy court over everything that happens in the city. No just with finances but EVERYTHING. Elected officials are jumping ship faster than rats on ratline.

No one knows any specific details about what is happening, only the vague warnings about what is to come. The governor who appointed this EM is an extreme conservative on social issues and has no qualms about extracting as much off the middle class back to pay bond holder debt. Bonds that were both foolishly sold and foolishly bought.  At near 60 yrs old I doubt we have the ability to get away from here. There is a continuing exodus out of the neighborhoods no one but a Detroiter would sell me house for the 10k I maybe could sell mine for and somehow a 30 year mortgage just doesn't seem personally practical for us. But yes in the near future it may be impossible to pay the property taxes and insurances. *shrug* Fuck 'em.