Today's prompts from Write Better Poetry and NaPoWriMo: (1) Write a "goodbye" poem, and (2) write a poem that gives directions about how to get to a particular place. I was thinking about writing a poem with a love theme, and I thought of Love Park in Philadelphia, so named because it has one of those iconic "Love" sculptures by Robert Indiana. But Philly, an otherwise great city just over the river from me, seems to be experiencing a record-breaking epidemic of gun violence. Every single night the local news has at least one report of a fatal shooting in the city, and usually several. Even young children have been victims. I could rail on about gun control, but I won't do that here, today. Instead, I offer what may be a rather naive or even fantastical solution, but one that makes my point, I hope.
settled with a gun.
Say goodbye to all the parking lot arguments
settled with a gun.
Say goodbye to all the gang power struggles
settled with a gun.
Say goodbye to all the need and envy
settled with a gun.
Say goodbye to all the paranoid delusions
settled with a gun.
Say goodbye to all the traffic stops
settled with a gun.
Say goodbye to all the breaches of brotherly love
settled with a gun.
and walk as straight as you can,
walk through neighborhoods of all shades,
walk past the struggling shops,
walk past the theaters and restaurants,
walk these streets which can be great again,
walk to 16th and Kennedy Boulevard,
walk to the big plaza with "Love" written
right in the heart of the city,
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