This Old House

This decaying house
The largest on the block
Once admired by all
Now falling into disrepair
Rotting from the inside out

What seemed like advantage
An accident of location and resources
A place for a grand experiment
Is now seen as hubris and folly
There are better houses now
Even to those who live here

Clinging to fantasies of an age gone past
When windows were clean and bright
But cracked windows still let in the light
And squeaking brittle doors still open and close
Yet they can break at anytime
And trap those within or without

To be made great again
A house requires strong foundations
Rights, not privileges that wax and wain
With each new landlord
Nobody boasts about freedom
in this house anymore

The carpet smells of mildew
And pipes all rattle and rust
An infrastructure collapsing through a lack of understanding and care
But sure, let’s cut the rent for the penthouse tenants
When the only thing that trickles down is piss

The people across the hall were disappeared last night
No longer welcome or protected
See what complaining about the rats gets you
The Super is just following orders he says
But that did not work at Nuremberg
And it shouldn’t work now

This house is a fire hazard
A death trap waiting to happen
Cold winds blow throughout
And all the landlord cares about is the neighbors
The neighbors who now laugh and pity us
With a mixture of fear and disappointment

Nobody visits this house anymore
They are warned to stay away
And those with cards of green don’t dare leave
Because privileges don’t apply with these landlords
Or find yourself renditioned to a secret basement
Somehow, somewhere

But from my tiny corner of this house
I refuse to be quiet
Even if it means losing my place
I’m here to poke the bear
With words and white middle-class privilege
I stand on the right side of history
And not just of this house

Come and get me you fucks.

_{Image by Oskars Zvejs from Pixabay}