Old Town | Teen Ink

Old Town MAG

June 1, 2011
By verdance BRONZE, San Diego, California
verdance BRONZE, San Diego, California
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Tacked onto a cold and bare brick wall –
A tombstone for this lost city –
A single photograph, grainy and yellow,
Ransoms a few tanned and leather faces
With calloused hands and uncertain gazes.
Eyes smiling with hope
Yet brows creased with doubt
As if they knew this avenue were to be inherited
By young white women who work during happy hour
By mugs and magnets
And Hawaiian-print button-ups.
They were to be forgotten and replaced –
The few who made this town –
The hands that dug deep into the dry, compacted dirt
And pulled up the roots of a city,
Shriveling and screaming in the desert sun,
Begging to be reburied
Anywhere but here.
But the solemn faces whispered “no”
And yanked at the roots
And spat at the sun
And gave this land a name.
Their sweat has since dried
Now only a salty memory,
A quaint story on a kids' menu,
A single photo on the wall.


The author's comments:
Old Town is an area in San Diego that was originally founded by Spanish missionaries looking to settle in the New World. It has been preserved as one of the town's historical landmarks, however much has changed about it. As much as I love going to Old Town, I can't help but always notice how unauthentic it has become and how far removed from its roots it has grown.

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This article has 2 comments.


on Oct. 5 2012 at 9:45 pm
Eliza_VRules BRONZE, Phoenix, Arizona
2 articles 0 photos 15 comments

Favorite Quote:
"We have no choice of what color we're born or who our parents are or whether we're rich or poor. What we do have is some choice over what we make of our lives once we're here."
-Mildred D. Taylor

It's been years since I've been to San Diego. I been missing the soft, breezes beaches that wash away all my fears and worries away into the traveling currents, the cheap, sand covered staircases on my way to the hotel. But I have been missing Old Town, the small area flled with shops and history. This brings me back to those great times. Thank You :)

on Oct. 27 2011 at 1:17 pm
I've been to San Diego's Old Town, and this is so right on!  Great job!