An Old Wood Mill

It used to be an old wood mill

Now it’s an outside shopping district

Full of coffee shops

Clothing stores

Restaurants

Breweries and wineries

Ice cream and candy shops

I could go on here

But you get the picture

There’s a river that snakes by

And walking paths along the snake

In the summertime

It’s alive with big hats, sunglasses, moving shoes

Shopping bags and credit cards

There’s a movie theater

And the smell of burnt popcorn rides the wind

Right into the nostrils of the children

Their mouths water

As they beg their parents to buy them more things

Their parents are loaded

Unfortunately

That’s the way it goes around here

The whole town is a palace for the upper class

They came from California

And paid for their nice houses with cash

They drove out the lower class

There was no room for us here

So most walked the plank

And left their once hidden gem of a home

Now there’s no one to pour them beer

And make their expensive coffee drinks

There’s no more young bodies to bring them their overpriced food

They drove out the burger flippers

And the struggling artist

There’s a mountain a few miles outside of town

They’ll ski

And then head back into their palace to get drunk

The alcohol laws are pretty lax here

Can’t be arresting the white and rich

So the cops turn a blind eye

The growing homeless population is an eye sore

For these privileged parasites

The racism is ignored

It’s taboo here

But hey

That’s Oregon for you

What’s a utopia for some

has turned into hell for others.

It’s funny how often it plays out like that

-C.H.