Duke City Contradictions
Mariachi music in the Plaza,
Gang shootings every other day.
Techology corridors hang over
The river’s crumbling west bank.
Below, geese and ducks feed on sandbars
In the middle of the thick brown flow.
Buried bones of mystery women on the Mesa
Tossed in rocky pits, forgotten.
Murder links them to the violence lurking
Just below the surface everywhere,
Under cottonwoods and willows
Along hiking trails and bike paths
Downtown bars and sidewalks after dark.
Families Sunday strolling by the water
Enjoying picnics in the park
Giraffe and hippo babies at the zoo.
A five-year-old smothered in the sandbox
Damaged children every evening on the news.
Here between mountains and volcanoes we are living
Lives of paranoia, cultural celebrations,
Methamphetamine, and guns
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