Line Gauthier Poet Free verse

Notes About The Poem

Nearby Ghetto

i wish i didn’t* but
i have to get across town
so off i go taking the bus
that drives through a nasty ghetto
 
i’m shocked as i look out the window
to see several dismal characters
i can’t imagine the misfortunes
that has brought them there

they’re low, they’re high
or maybe that's just their life
being low in between their high

houses so run down
they look like crackhouses to me
windows loosely boarded up 
properties with signs for sale ~ as if !!
 
meanwhile i can't help 
but notice that i'm the only 
caucasian on the bus

i take the time to notice people in their uniforms
orderlies, cashiers, dishwashers, students
in their eyes bound determination to get ahead 
and not land in this foresaken ghetto
 
and then we turn around a corner
back to the realm of civilization
like having crawled out of a deep hole
no wall no fence 

just an imaginary line
that we dare cross at our own peril
doggedly holding our breath 
cautious that the pit won't engulf us


* I'm on my way to a doctor's appointment that I'm dreading.

P.S. I feel it's important to mention that I live in Canada where we don't really use the term 'ghetto', and up here these quarters attract substance abusers.


AP: Honorable Mention 2025

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Susan Ashley April 2, 2025 at 10:57 AM Dear Line, I think this poem does what a great poem should do; it conveys the speaker's emotional/visceral response to a neighborhood's signs of societal decay, alienation, drug abuse, poverty, racial differences and engages the reader to explore how they think/feel about such things. Great poetry provokes a response, positive or negative. So long as a poem doesn't leave you feeling dead inside then a poem has done its creative job. These urban scenes are real and your use of bleak vivid imagery calls attention to the socioeconomic breakdown, its consequences and its boundaries with raw poetic finesse. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan Line Gauthier April 3, 2025 at 5:36 AM Yes, I was trying to convey the shock of it all ~ and really, we might actually only be one tragedy away from that world... there are so many angles to this... plenty of food for thought

Maureen McGreavy Pigeon Tart April 2, 2025 at 6:34 AM I disagree with Tommy’s take of condescending; the second last stanza starts with “we”, breaking down any separation between you and the rest of the passengers, and the next stanza with “just an imaginary line” deliberately more so. I read empathy here. xomo Line Gauthier April 3, 2025 at 5:42 AM Thanks for your visit and comment, Maureen. This is such a huge and complex subject. A poem captures one perspective but an author would need to write many more poems to begin to express the entirety of their viewpoint, their empathy, their concern, their experience, their shame, their regrets, their good deeds, their anger at society's lack of solutions.... Maureen McGreavy Pigeon Tart April 2, 2025 at 6:35 AM …”us” at the end. ~x