Ode to a Garden Mourns Potential Paving

The following poem refers to plans at Cal State Long Beach to evict gardeners from a two-acre parcel on campus to make room for a temporary parking lot. TWENTY VACANT ACRES AT CSULB Twenty vacant acres to choose from

yet it’s the two garden acres they want.

Seems to be an official Cal State

“in-your-face” taunt

at gardeners and citizens,

staff and students too

in attempt to silence criticism

for what they’re planning later to do.

The ulterior motive for asphalt,

Pyramid parking’s just a deception,

is to make way for developing structures

not needed for education.

Do we need more stores, more shops,

more restaurants and rental housing?

Their answer sends signals

of serious developer carousing:”

“Yes,” say Charmack, Munitz, and McCray,*

“once we silence those gardeners,

everything will be OK.

Our College Park neighbors

have money they’re ready to spend.

We’ll just sit here

and collect it

from day’s start to day’s end.”

What those “lenders” won’t realize

is the local economy is shot.

No matter their skewed statistics

our struggling neighborhood cannot

support another mini-mall

another nightmare of reason.

Yet Cal State insists

on this community-wide treason.

It’s time to come together,

link arms and rattle about;

to climb Cal State’s steps

and give organized shouts

that we know what they’re up to,

a fast-one they can’t pull

because this is America--

a place We The People still rule.

KEITH A. DODSON

Long Beach

* Scott Charmack, associate vice president of physical planning, Cal State Long Beach; Barry Munitz, chancellor of the Cal State University system; Curtis McCray, president of Cal State Long Beach.