waverly

sacked by kingstroops
wanton mischief pavement shattered
doors windows demolished
furniture fragments
family pictures ground tatters
fruit-trees down
fragments scattered around
shivered explosion shadows
they come upon leave us in extremitie
red moon through clouds where the dead shall be

shopping center at sunrise
(in 1951 the waverly redevelopment project razed blocks of integrated rowhouses to support aggressive segregationist policy, with help, either bungling or cynical, from the federal housing administration)