Devon Balwit
Business Plan
Gaper and boney you knew, easy-steazy—
but gentrify, no,
sounding so much like gentle and gentleman,
praiseworthy and desirable.
Coming from mountain vistas, slopes loping
to far horizon,
you lacked the perspective of those trapped
behind high-rise luxury
condos that stole the old views and took
the shade trees,
the forerunners of bistros with five dollar coffees
and ten dollar beers.
Those happily gentrifying sit inside, don’t pass
by the sign
after long commutes or, perhaps, nights spent
under a tarp
on the median. The rocks through your plate-glass
are rude, unneighborly even,
a wake-up call that it’s wise to spend time
before you build,
getting to know the lay of the land, the better to dig
a strong foundation.
Devon Balwit is a writer/teacher from Portland, OR. Her poems of protest have appeared here before as well as in The New Verse News, Poets Reading the News, Rattle, Redbird Weekly Reads, Rise-Up Review, Rat’s Ass Review, The Rising Phoenix Review, Mobius, and more.
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