*Editor”'s Note: “The Alley” and Headline August 2013
“In the squares of the city” staccato headlines petulantly make news sensational for our attention.
“In the squares of the city” mores and actions collide.
“In the squares of the city” Woody Guthrie compared mores with reality”“hungry people of the Depression and denial of entrance to the disenfranchised.
“In the squares of the city””“parks and plazas, blocks and alleys, markets and parking lots, streets and sidewalks”“we gather to talk, to entertain, and seize the opportunity to welcome one another sharing our public spaces without “No Trespassing” signs.
“In the squares of the city” is appropriate for The Alley in August 2013 as the pages review
- July”'s Jubilees,
- single and group accomplishments, future poems,
- barricade photography,
- Fall sports,
- insights on the President, housing, and thinking,
- and“ownership” changes.
“In the squares of the city words, photos, mosaics, and music of neighbors and artists enhance, interpret, and record our lives.
Frequently those recordings are revised from the original. This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie has often been distorted by omission of verses in political disagreement.
Thomas R. Smith reminds us in his original poem “Dream Union” to listen again to that troubadour and to recall the moorings of our county”'s founding.
“in the squares of the city” community will prosper if we increase appreciation and understanding of one another without revision of work and histories.
