s.maple ave

  Oh I miss our house on S.Maple Ave in East Orange NJ. We have hardly any photos of it, for some reason. the evil highway ate our house, gutted East Orange, and eminent domain cheated us and many others.  It was our first real family home, a funky 2 1/2 story victorian with inner beauty and a wonderful integrated mixed neighborhood full of big houses and lovely families. Recently we revisited the remains of the street and took a few pics. We lived there in the 1950s. I wanted to see if the houses were as big and beautiful as my memories, and it smelled the same.  I found a little bit of the old sidewalk, which was made of fantastic big slate slabs.
  Here's my little 10 S.Maple Ave poem and some pics.

ROTTEN ROAD: 280 NJ

In defense of 10 smaple ave

oh you rotten road
you ate our house!
you ate our street
and I hate you

you put a friggin toll booth
where our house used to be
and buses belching poison gas
sit and curse where
we once played
and walked the simple street
of slate and maple trees
to our school
give it back
I damn you
you rotten road

7/14/2011

     scrystal