Post by 57 - Cheryl on Nov 28, 2008 3:09:26 GMT -5
When I walk down these busy streets
I see all kinds of people walking by
And it is strange how just a few
Will wave or smile or even notice you.
58,195 names of those who died
carved into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
Makes me shed a tear,
“I wouldn’t be standing here
if my father had died in that war.”
Just with that thought
I am here, alive, and breathing.
I then feel quite lucky.
14,000 men and women without shelter
28 percent have mental illnesses,
Mostly suffering from schizophrenia.
They walk these dirty streets all day long,
Begging, pleading, crying, yelling,
Just to eat, or get a quick fix.
I cannot give them a dime or a nickel,
It’s quite sad,
But to give a dime to fulfill an addiction
Is just something I don’t want to help,
It would be as though I’m helping them
Drown in their own blood.
On the North East side of D.C.
You better watch your back,
Gunshots heard every fifteen minutes, I was told.
Gangs selling drugs on corners of K and 8th,
Just a block from my university,
Have to roll up those car windows,
And lock your door.
Ambulances, police, search dogs
I no longer cringe when I see the police,
I see them everyday.
D.C. is not safe, however,
There are free museums,
And a clean subway.
The roads are congested,
The air smells like shit,
But there’s something about D.C.
That makes all these things disappear.
At the National Mall is where I find my peace
In the fall, the leaves are yellow, red, and orange
In the winter, there is hardly any snow
In the spring, pink cherry blossoms start blooming.
And as I walk up the steps to see Abraham Lincoln
I think of Martin Luther King’s speech
“I Have a Dream”.
There is so much history here.
Look up at Lincoln’s hands,
His right hand carved in an “A” shape,
And his left carved as an “L”
The artist, who carved, was deaf.
That means so much to me.
If you turn around,
Look onto the Reflecting Pool of water
Washington’s Memorial is as bright
As sunlight is on a stream
Glistening and sparkling
As the water moves from the wind.
There is a gentle breeze while standing
Along the rocky banks of the Potomac River
Willow tree branches swaying back and forth
And if you stand in the right spot,
You’ll see the sun-set over the Memorial Bridge
The bad outweigh the good in D.C.,
but all the good things fascinate me.
Really makes this dirty city seem really pretty.
I see all kinds of people walking by
And it is strange how just a few
Will wave or smile or even notice you.
58,195 names of those who died
carved into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
Makes me shed a tear,
“I wouldn’t be standing here
if my father had died in that war.”
Just with that thought
I am here, alive, and breathing.
I then feel quite lucky.
14,000 men and women without shelter
28 percent have mental illnesses,
Mostly suffering from schizophrenia.
They walk these dirty streets all day long,
Begging, pleading, crying, yelling,
Just to eat, or get a quick fix.
I cannot give them a dime or a nickel,
It’s quite sad,
But to give a dime to fulfill an addiction
Is just something I don’t want to help,
It would be as though I’m helping them
Drown in their own blood.
On the North East side of D.C.
You better watch your back,
Gunshots heard every fifteen minutes, I was told.
Gangs selling drugs on corners of K and 8th,
Just a block from my university,
Have to roll up those car windows,
And lock your door.
Ambulances, police, search dogs
I no longer cringe when I see the police,
I see them everyday.
D.C. is not safe, however,
There are free museums,
And a clean subway.
The roads are congested,
The air smells like shit,
But there’s something about D.C.
That makes all these things disappear.
At the National Mall is where I find my peace
In the fall, the leaves are yellow, red, and orange
In the winter, there is hardly any snow
In the spring, pink cherry blossoms start blooming.
And as I walk up the steps to see Abraham Lincoln
I think of Martin Luther King’s speech
“I Have a Dream”.
There is so much history here.
Look up at Lincoln’s hands,
His right hand carved in an “A” shape,
And his left carved as an “L”
The artist, who carved, was deaf.
That means so much to me.
If you turn around,
Look onto the Reflecting Pool of water
Washington’s Memorial is as bright
As sunlight is on a stream
Glistening and sparkling
As the water moves from the wind.
There is a gentle breeze while standing
Along the rocky banks of the Potomac River
Willow tree branches swaying back and forth
And if you stand in the right spot,
You’ll see the sun-set over the Memorial Bridge
The bad outweigh the good in D.C.,
but all the good things fascinate me.
Really makes this dirty city seem really pretty.
beautiful 
