neighborhood Archives - Inspire By O'Nika

Corner Store Bodega

The door to the bodega

Opens with lyrics

Aguanilè

Aguanilè, mai mai

Feeling like you stepped right onto an island

The groove moving up your spine

Bop your head move your feet

Lips turning upward forming a smile

Let me get a Ham with American cheese

And a buttered roll on a Kaiser bun

A grape strawberry Mistic, a quarter water too

Aguanilé

Aguanilé, mai mai

Waiting for your meat to be cut

The lyrics fill the air

You start to dance, salsa or two step

You get to the front to pay

Bum at the counter beggin’, “let me get two loosies man!”

In a hurry to get back, you get mad

Then you hear

Aguanilé

Aguanilé, mai mai

Forgetting the unfolding drama

You move your feet, your hips, your butt

While waiting you go to the lottery case

Slipping a piece of paper to the cashier, play these pick 3 numbers

Oh and a pack of watermelon, grape and apple Now and Laters

Aguanilé

Aguanilé, mai mai

The door to the bodega

Closes behind you

Ears flooded with police sirens

Horns blowing

Arguments and expletives

Feeling like you stepped back into a war

As always, thank you for reading!

Urban Renewal on Display

Urban renewal on display Brick and Mortar decay Shiny material erected Up, up and away Brick and mortar are sturdy Capable of withstanding Winds, hurricanes and the dirty All except, rebranding Shiny material being built up Adjacent to brick foundations Once thriving now obscure Real estate moguls on the come-up Concrete jungles disappearing New structures and engineering Urban renewal on display Scores of people and their lives astray Working people, families now dispersed Throughout the city, worries mount On deaf ears their cries fall, unrehearsed The times this has happened; too many to count Real estate moguls, investors and the like Padding their pockets and feeling delight Meanwhile everyday people are being discarded Like old shoes when they should be safeguarded The same people running the ship Keeping the business afloat While you sit back on your yacht or big boat So, who is displaying true stewardship?

Image credit: Joshua Kettle on Unsplash

Urban Renewal on Display was written in response to the picture prompt by Sadje for What Do You See?