Meditations in The Decline of Western Civilization

By Kevin Coval | December 22, 2020 | Originally posted at Belt Magazine

i’m here to clear my mind
in pursuit of superheroes
the city’s criminalized.
hop wire-cut fences
into empty lots
& walk warehouses
& industrial parks.

this is how i ground myself.
i follow the writing on the wall.

who are the masked avengers
lurking the alleys
beautifying the expressway
renovating forgotten storefronts
with fonts on lonely water towers.
letters a story                          high.

FACTS ROHOE
decorate the interstate
ACHOO
in every corner of New Orleans

in St. Louis, i think of             KINK
& the                           LD Crew
in Detroit                                PEAR & BEGR
after                             MSK
painted the city back to life
in factories they were supposed to work in.

the children write epitaphs on the machinery that claimed their parents

in El Paso i walked for hours alone
along paused railcars to see how permeable
& ridiculous borders are.  how ingenious
codes of the marginalized develop to circumnavigate
gates & walls, to communicate & infuriate ice agents & despots.

who knows the land better than writers

that west of cicero
all the way local towards hinsdale
the salt factory
has become a greenhouse
a pasture of daffodils
& sunflowers ■

Cover image by Jess (creative commons).