PROJECT SCOPE: in February, 2014, three classes of creative writing students from Eastern Michigan University, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, discussed the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings taking place in Detroit. During the conversation facts were discussed and questions were posed, such as: What does bankruptcy mean to you? What are the differences/ similarities between emotional or spiritual bankruptcy, and financial bankruptcy? What connotations/associations do you attach to the concept? What is it like to have your heritage absconded with, without your choosing? For those with more money (more power) to be able to take that which you hold sacred? The students were from various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, with very different relationships to the city. After reading a New York Times article, and interviews of effected pensioners, they were prompted to poetically respond to the situation. Some of the resulting work, found below, was chosen for display at The Worker’s Inquiry into the Bankruptcy of Detroit, held at Wayne State University, February 15th, 2014.

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Bank Rupt by Hannah Rhodenhiser

When he was 5 Oma asked
“What will you be?” Michael
Answered “I’m going to try,
Be an astronaut.”
Building a future of air
Loaning the things you
Never had
I.O.U.
You do, but
How do you explain?

There are canoes on the shore
Brilliant oil painted pastel colors.
Or the man made of recycled
A war-torn country
The rivers stained
jean blue,
The fields growing
Blood.

Steam rises from the grates
Poison seeps into the soil
How can so much polluted air
And buildings that butt heads
With the sky
Completely lack
Follow through
Empty words
Written.

Michael holds a helpless child
Big blue eyes promise the ocean
on a stormy afternoon.
When the sun still shines
Despite insistent huge raindrops.
“I tried” and the world said
Call Back Later.

On the corner an old house
Has been burned
To the ground.
Well-meaning suburbanites drive
Minivans on the weekend
Rake the soil
Plant seeds
The hoop-house taps steam
Congealed on the plastic.

A boy in the shape
Of an old man stands
Bare feet in the compost
Eyes closed.
A lifetime of investment
In man-made ideas
Everything that seemed so
Very important
Made of air
Which we need for life
But cannot repay a debt
Since when has trying
Ever been enough.

 

Mom I’m Coming Home by Michael Wood

Momma said fuck us a long time ago
Dad is a drunk who stayed but he only saw us as income
Coming back from drunken binges with broken promises
Confessions of love and codependency while eating our lunches
I always thought we turned out to be heaven
Grandma said we’d turned out to be hell

Big Brother use to seem so big, so strong
Now I watch as he under sales his value to pay for his habit
People always said we had a crack problem
So concerned with us smoking the rock neva asked how we got it
Big brother doesn’t sing anymore, we both just reminisce on when we use to create
Dad kept talking about building and bridges
When grandma came by she use to say she ain’t like the people we hung around
Maybe her telling us we wasn’t shit made us drown that shit out
Truth is she told us long enough for us to see the truth in it
So we hate ourselves, forsake ourselves
Defiant broken hearted children looking for hope
Sometimes I cry and curl myself in a ball and cry out for momma
Big Brother always tells me momma said fuck us a long time ago

Big brother, antique abandoned building with the copper ripped out,
Lets his kids play in the street while Dad takes shit out the house
Dad said his bankruptcy leads to that vacancy
He’s just trying to help, he knows we’re incapable of helping ourselves
Rob Peter to pay Paul seems to be Dad’s financial plan
Dad says he’s here for me as he rushes his Benz out the ghetto
Come back kid bumper tags left on the lawn
Even in emergency he manages not to stay long
Big Brother told me: they say Momma helped us out
Bailed us out with a hand out that never came this way
Momma offered platitudes, told me she gave to help me
Dad and his friends ate good and got fat from the money she sacrificed
Pointed fingers and gave speeches, redirected blame and responsibility
Momma politics just confirmed my dark and quiet rooms

Hi Momma, it’s Flint, little to big brother fuck up
They told me I had to come back home to you
If you would just pick up,
We went to Grandma’s but she wouldn’t open up
Shit call me back, I’m on my way

Momma said fuck us a long time ago.

20 dollars in my pocket by Brandon Bossard

20 dollars in my pocket,

I walk home
Sidewalks cracked, houses in piles
The ivy consuming the building on the corner
It had me thinking, “what happened?”
The glory, the promise, the power, the opportunity

There’s a sickness in this town
Spreading faster than wildfire
Trickling through the system
The system that should be protecting us, the people

10 dollars in my pocket,

I walk past 211 W. Fort Street
In shame, anger, disbelief
My hard work, my blood, sweat and tears
Gone
Take a seat in Wala
Belly growling
I look into my wallet to pay…
0 dollars in my pocket.

 

Untitled by Gabriela Augustinaitis

i’m not hip enough for home.
blackout fire hydrants, one way streets, and women crying late at night.
summer smells of burning gas, stale cigarettes and trips to the grocery store.

i can’t afford to live there. the heart won’t bear the weight.
memories
potential futures.
mountain dew, proactive and bobble headed fuzzy idiots on dashboards

gone for-EVER
small hiccups when arrives death, unity units
and new life brings bundles of store brand diapers and blue and pink onesies

you can’t live there anymore

we took all you knew as worth. stored in our pockets and kept it for ourselves.
wadded it up like old chewing gum and flicked it away.
IT’S ALL MINE. “go find what you need somewhere else”

i wanna explore like my father did. spelunking through the unknown. cracker jack boxes, coke-a-cola signs and homemade shoe shine kits. crowded rooms with nowhere left to walk.

but NOW everything comes with a price. taxed. stripped away till there is no profit left to gain.
it’s someone else’s now. it’s not our story to tell.

lots stand alone. quiet. waiting for hope. potential potential.
we don’t come here for fun anymore. only the elite and skeptical are welcome now.

the phone rings over and over and over and over again till we come home.
and she still won’t answer it how long
has this been going on? phone it in/out.

you won’t live here anymore. whatever life you scrape from the tar and pavement is on its last breath. let’s get out of the city.

 

Assembly Line by Cooper Arent

Screech, clank, bang
words that haunt,
the city’s former anthem.
Business built it
and then tore it down.

Corruption rolling over the city like
a steam roller flattening fresh dough.
Grime, crime, and death
words that materialized,
the city’s new love.

Fire takes the remainder
systematically ruining everything.
Like hopscotch, it’ll never miss a beat.

Why save it?
Instead build a vilified empire.
Continue the tradition.
Riches to rags, rags to dust.
Business would be proud.

 

What Did We Learn by Samantha Cwik

At age 5 we learned to listen to mom and dad,
don’t touch that door, stop yelling,
time for bed, be a good person.
Everyone learns this they said.

At age 10 we learned to do things ourselves,
pick up your toys, pack your own lunch,
pick out your clothes, fix your own mistakes.
Everyone learns this they said.

At age 15 we learned to work hard,
go get a job, listen to your boss,
be on time, work harder than anyone else.
Everyone learns this they said.

At age 20 we learned to be an adult,
save your money, get a real job,
find a place to live, start paying your taxes.
Everyone learns this they said.

At age 25 we learned to plan for the future,
time to get married, time to have kids,
start owning things, think about retirement.
Everyone learns this they said.

At age 30 we learned to love others,
be nice to your neighbor, treat your wife right,
teach your kids lessons, support your government.

Now here you are at age 65,
you worked hard, you lived your life.
What lessons did you learn?
Did EVERYONE learn that like they said?
Did THEY learn to be a good person?
Did THEY learn to fix their mistakes?
Did THEY work harder than everyone else?
Did THEY learn to be an adult?
Did THEY think about the future?
Did THEY learn to love others?