Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Detroit, here goes your love letter


how does one fall in love with
a place, breaking and fixing itself.
head over hills
over segregated parks and extreme heat.
eastern market-
the red, green, yellow bell peppers
spread blooming like spring flowers
the hot Saturday heat
beating my brown skin like a drum.
I got my shopping bags in two hands,
got my shades on
there is no date like
a date with Detroit.

I walk proudly with the air
carrying me over from one Motown love song to another
listening to Detroit
as any good date would
I heard the city, laugh and cry all in one day
love and misfortune and desire for better things
I listened and I didn't try to relate
but I did share
my love for Addis Ababa.
the love for my city mirroring
how Detroiters felt for their home.
they wore shirts and hats and colored their hearts
with love for this city, that refuses to give up on itself

Detroit accepts all those that stayed and left
those who came across oceans or freeways
It's easy to be swept up by the downtown
fountain painting pictures with water,
Campus Martius sitting in the heart of Detroit.
you might hear Deep River sing soul and spiritual
as you skip Broadway and make your way through Gratiot
On Field st, the kids think Chloe is my mother
and the trees spread up and down
so flawless.
Well Detroit, this is your love letter.


EastSider at heart
Writer-Selam Misgano

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