by Susan Cameron
(And I'm glad Santa Ana has calmed down tremendously compared to back then).
I fling my bulletproof vest on the chair and open my first beer.
We worked the war zone on Third Street tonight.
My adrenaline's still pumping, nerves jumping,
heart thumping, body ready for flight or fight;
Genghis Khan would get his ass capped if he rolled up here.
Kafka couldn't invent this place. Teenage killers roam
while their parents cower trembling behind window bars.
Their bullets play with babies: "Tag, you're hit!"
And that's it. Tiny coffins, processions of beat-up cars
head to the graveyard to take the innocents home.
This story is as old as time, as old as Cain and Abel,
as old as I feel right now. But Attila the Homeboy is young.
He rips through flesh and crunches bone, a predator high on
testosterone and unconcerned with right or wrong.
There's no guilt or redemption in this fable.
So off we went to war again -- blue suits versus black,
shirts and skins -- to make the world safe; another story
you've heard before. The players change but the game
stays the same. We busted a hundred and got some glory;
but they'll make bail, and they'll be back.
Susan Cameron, copyright 1998
Wow. Powerful piece. I don't remember it and am glad you dug it up. My adrenaline is pumping now!
ReplyDeleteI think it's always interesting to see what one has written about an event that occurred in the past. It always has a very visceral feel to it because the writer is responding from a place of deep feeling to a real event that provides perspective and allows us to compare then and now, to see how things have changed or not changed and how we have changed. It gives me hope that if Santa Ana can improve its atmosphere and neighborhoods, then other places can too. Are you listening LA?
ReplyDeleteGritty and poignant at the same time, this drops me right in the middle of the scene and surrounds me with all the grim reality of it. Great job!
ReplyDelete