Clean Up
the service station closed
when the owners
couldn’t afford
the environmental clean up
the profit margin was so slim
it was better to go bankrupt
than pay the fines
they couldn’t afford
for not doing
the environmental clean up
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the station was abandoned
after a decade it was torn down
to build a condo
or rather start to build
the soil was too contaminated
to build on
the cost of
the environmental clean up
added too much to the initial start up
it was abandoned once again
pre-sold units never built
buyers screwed
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the fenced in empty lot
became a blot
where weeds grew
everywhere
except in one bald stretch
what building was once there
was forgotten
the stretch was smaller every year
left alone
nature did
the environmental clean up
This is a true story, or rather one pasted to gather from true facts. The service station was not far from me here in east end Toronto. near Danforth & Donald’s. It was functioning when I moved into the area then closed & seemed to be abandoned for several years. I did take some photos before was fenced in. I did see a soil testing company come in to take samples.
It remained abandoned for another couple of years before the building was demolished, another year before the debris was hauled way & new fencing spot up. Weeds took over & the few remaining trees along the back fence line thrived. Three years ago the land was cleared again. A sign went up for a condo & then one of those prefab buildings to see units was put up. It has remained unused now for two years.
The first two verses are pretty much what I wrote in my first draft. The third verse has been kicked into shape this week to create a sense of ending. Frequently I’ve left drafts in very rough shape expecting to come back to them eventually. I brain needs time to discover where the path in the first rush is leading to.
I’ve seen documentaries about abandoned resorts, shopping malls, & even amusement parks around the world. It has been encouraging & a bit amazing, to see them being overgrown with trees, plants breaking through parking lot asphalt – when we stop making things worse the planet can start to repair itself.
TOpoet 