Nothing lasts forever.
Wherever you live,
the neighborhood changes
even if only slowly.
Nowadays change accelerates.
People move out,
new move in.
Various causes and reasons
sometimes overlapping
age
retirement
family
job relocation
property value
transportation
downsizing
empty nest
convalescence
politics
a longer list
When I was young
almost nothing changed
ever
in any way
the neighborhood store
was always there
the postman always brought the mail
and next door to us
the Anellos on the left
the Giacollettos on the right
Mr. Stone across the street
the guy a little further over
with a pretty big yard
and a porch
whose name I can’t remember
because he was two years older
and not in my class at school
and Jimmy Fry across the wall
my best friend because he was closest
and Jerry Kelly across the other street
with a really big yard
I didn’t know as well
because he was older too
the only change after
so many years
was Johnny the Bully
who attacked and robbed
our landlady
and when the police
went down to his house
it was already empty
so I never knew much
about change
in a stable world
and then I went to college
the dorms at UCR
where change became a constant
even just across the hall
the change of roommates because
one was expelled
for reasons still unclear
and then marriage and fatherhood
transferred us to
married student housing
with neighbors from
everywhere
and other countries
and visiting professors
who didn’t stay long
and then our rented house on Franklin
with a neighborhood pretty stable
because no one had much money
and then we moved to Third Street
that used to be orange groves
and a big rented farmer house
the last of any semblance
of neighborhood and when we left
they actually moved the house
and then Altadena
a whole house of our own
and neighbors on all sides
who stayed or died and moved away
and in the Bay Area
where money stakes stability
it’s still in and out
and up in Dunsmuir
just met the new
next door neighbors
who’ve already become friends
and business is new
everywhere
in flux
I’m living in a universe of change
They say get used to it
Even the earth won’t last forever
I know I know
but I hold on
to what I can