As part of our Chicago Matters: Beyond Burnham series we asked local residents to reflect on the past year and share their hopes for the region—“From Here on Out”. All this week we’re sharing some of their thoughts. Local poet Kevin Coval reflects on growing divides in the region and imagines a new plan for Chicago.
a war president wins a peace prize.
it must be opposite day.
the grassroots that pushed him
into office wilt and die waiting
on that trickle down. Saul Alinksy
and Harold Washington rot
forgotten in their graves.
the glaring gap widens in this city
between those who have and those
who have to pay rent.
this winter my pops teeters on
financial collapse. he is sixty-six.
there is no retirement in sight.
he will work until he dies.
this is the case
for the too many majority.
christmas time in our country’s
abundance. Something’s got to give.
folk downtown still eat $50 stuffed duck.
folk down south side still search for some
suitable stuff to eat.
The same people stay getting scrooged.
something’s gotta change. i think
for sure it’s the mayor, selling off the city
to his private stock options
to charge us for tap water.
After the failed Olympic bid
I pray for the people of Brazil
and fear the havoc the IOCs
will reap on the poor and working in that country…
as for the rest of us, chi-go getters,
those who need this city to be more equitable
this instant
let’s make a bid to make Chicago better
no playing
let’s build the city again.
live into our namesake
let’s build a Second City,
not coined for some
inadequate identity deficiency, but named
for our ability to pheonix,
to rise out the ashes.
a town burnt down and better
imagined: the audacity of scope.
a city named with a plan
penned by working hands.
i’m happy to call it socialism,
cuz this capitalism thing just isn’t
working. but let’s call it something else.
a Second City rooted in care and concern.
a city for everyone huddled in the cold of neighborhoods
it is on all of us to imagine the city
over and again.
a city on the lake built on wind
and the impossible, built near water
so when the fire come we can ash and dampen
and start again. a city that will know its people
and be for the people who remain unknown.
from here on out
the city shrinks if we listen
to its hulking breath and the despair
of its disparity. bring city hall
to the corner store, put aldermen
on the block, mothers in the courtroom.
each of us city planners, building a new
Chicago. a second city for Joe Felso
and the legacy of Ida B. Wells.
a city of Haymarket rioters
in the streets demanding it change
and change now. it has always been
a city, hard workers pushed to be better,
our shoulders to the wheel
from here on out
the earth can be moved.