Poem

Salt City

Salt City Syracuse, You dwell in Mid State,
You are used for testing new products,
Rebuild, rebuild where you are,
15th Ward East, South Side of town,
81 came it decimated you,
No Home you no more,
81, Upstate Med is now,
What is the emotion of families you dislodged,
Highway robbery some may say,
Hundreds of families—many of color,
Forced to relocate, nowhere to go.

Now it has run its course,
Time to come down, down,
15th Ward, would you be renewed,
Urban Renewal to the rescue,
Who will come now,
Viaduct, Community Grid, Orange Tunnel concept,
Which one will it be,
Do the City have the key,
Or at what fee,
SCS*, open your eye for us,
Families displace you see.

— By Julius L. Lawrence Jr.

* Salt City Syracuse