A city on its knees.

It's bleak in this city;
fear has stormed the
strongest, our barriers
crumbling to the ground
like a foundation we placed
too much trust in.

This city was never mine
but I grew to love its spirit.

Now, we wonder if military
trucks will parade down Main St,
dirtying the dreams
we painted on plywood.

Some of us are close to giving up.
I feel it in the labored sighs of
historic buildings, in the heat
waves and carbon dioxide and
exhaustion of being told to
"just go home".

Silence pollutes the rivers
we were once defined by,
flooding the streets with
complacency,

but our echoes can still
be found

underground,

growing stronger,
braver,
each day.