West Side Algebraic
waiting to be saved
from the flood waters rising
poor man he fell down
drowning in his own home and his wife she couldn’t save him nothing she could do
on the town’s west side what used to be called brown town and there’s some still do
it’s not for lack of asking that there’s no work done on the town’s west side
they done fixed beachside they done fixed riverside too don’t nobody see us
nother storm and we’re gone under it don’t matter nothing’s gonna change
on the town’s west side what used to be called brown town poor folk still drowning
Nina Heiser is a poet, writer and retired journalist currently living in central Florida and Western New York. Her work has appeared in Tuck Magazine; Cadence, the Florida State Poets Association Anthology; Vociferous Press anthology Screaming from the Silence; Embark Literary Journal; and Gargoyle Magazine. Her poetry and photographs have been featured in Pendemics Journal, and Of Poets & Poetry.