For two weeks prior the buzz was, “Did you hear?
“The List at Marineview will be opened for the first time in six years.”
Wednesday early AM the lines are forming,
The List will be opened ten o’clock Thursday morning.
“They look like they are homeless,” someone was heard saying,
The List will be opened they can all stop praying.
Does The List offer salvation or a chance for omnipotence?
No — just the prospect of an affordable Hoboken existence.
To remain in this town they must persevere,
And spend a night outside in weather severe.
And all of this angst, this sacrifice of heat,
For rents under a grand and a whopping 900 square feet.
In the shadow of The List the economy booms,
Yet how helpful is that in the quest for a two bedroom.
With all this cash strewn around one might feel inferior,
This sense exacerbates with a substandard interior.
The investment bankers and developers are surely all smiles,
But where do the rest of us live in the meanwhile?
Many in this city praise its diversity,
But we’re fast becoming a hamlet for only the wealthy.
Born and Raised, Newcomer, all different races,
Puerto Rican, Italian and artistic faces.
Back in the day, these groups could all cope,
Now for many The List is their final hope.
David Plotka