Dreaming of Clairton, PA
Miller Avenue like an old man’s mouth
has many spaces between its yellow teeth
(stores not torn down for taxes)
A slag pile Everest before the city pool
my boy dad scaling its heights for a dip
A gang beats Mom just blocks from school
Coke works barring her kids
from the medicinal Monongahela
futures floating by undisturbed
Falls days gray summers simmer
Little here is new
This dream is no nightmare
The “City of Prayer” still unanswered
which is why this is a love poem
5 thoughts on "Dreaming of Clairton, PA"
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Shew! : ” like an old man’s mouth/has many spaces between its yellow teeth”
You draw the roughness of this town well, especially, “A gang beats Mom just blocks from school” with a hint of light breaking through “my boy dad scaling its heights for a dip”
This is awesome Lee.
Great writing.
Painted well and with love.
The ending perfect.
Damn, Lee. My favorite poem of yours so far. The following lines add so much honest weight and realism.
‘A gang beats Mom just blocks from school
Coke works barring her kids
from the medicinal Monongahela
futures floating by undisturbed’
“ Miller Avenue like an old man’s mouth
has many spaces between its yellow teeth” Yes! Fantastic image.
Corrected version:
Miller Avenue like an old man’s mouth
has many spaces between its yellow teeth
(stores not torn down for taxes)
A slag pile Everest before the city pool
my boy dad scaling its heights for a dip
A gang beats Mom just blocks from school
Coke works barring her kids
from the medicinal Monongahela
futures floating by undisturbed
Fall days gray summers simmer
Little here is new
This dream is no nightmare
The “City of Prayer” still unanswered
which is why this is a love poem