City Asunder

I’m sure you’re relieved 
  To hear the great news;
The mayor will run
  To fill his own shoes.

He’s done a great job,
  I’m sure it’s agreed;
The jewel of a nation
  As mayor he leads.

Overlook all the crime,
  And the jobs that were pared,
And the people who’ve left
  So their lives could be spared,

And you’ll find a great city
  That’s second to none;
Except maybe Bagdad
  Which has fewer guns.

The last time he ran
  ‘twas a bit of a strain;
His opponent was sharp,
  Not in name but in brain.

And he’ll face him again,
  A Rhodes Scholar is he;
At an Ivy League college
  He got his degree.

So the voters will vote
  On the choices they can;
Cory Booker, is one,
  Or Sharpe James once again.

Twenty years the incumbent
  Has watched Newark die;
Despite every promise,
  Every promise a lie.

Does anyone care
  That the city’s long gone;
Surrendered its greatness
  To an urban blight dawn?

A wasteland of promise,
  A wasteland of greed;
In the streets there is pathos,
  In the streets there is need.

When opportunity knocks,
  They say fortune’s met;
Opportunity’s knocking,
  Will the voters forget?.