For the demised “Kiley Grove,” Water Street at Kilbourn Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1969-2019
They decided that their plans for this place
were all that mattered.
How these horse chestnut trees formed a cathedral,
how they fed birds, filtered air,
how they sustained and calmed us,
was not their concern.
How we gathered,
walked and danced here,
beside the point.
They had other ideas about this land,
ones they considered smart,
enterprising,
modern.
Big screen and long lawn.
Discreet wire fence along urban border.
They thought we would simply vanish
because we had no say.
They thought that this place–
our memory of its stillness,
our devotion to those trees,
that bird song–
would be forgotten,
ground into pulp,
hauled away.
They believed they could
erase this place
because they pretended
that none of us
was ever here.
