My Street Looks Like America

"Having grown up in South Philadelphia"" the author writes, ""I found inspiration in what might be otherwise considered wretched places filled with broken glass, rusted fences, decaying factories, and trash-strewn neighborhoods. I remember, at 5 or 6 years old, being fascinated with a dandelion that grew from a crevice in concrete. There were few flowers or trees in South Philadelphia then. Discovering hidden beauty in a coarse environment set the stage for a lifetime of seeking it."" In this collection of poetry by writer Thomas Curley, the author uses the street where he lives as an analogous metaphor for a changing and evolving 21st Century American social landscape. Curley's street that looks like America is our own street, and the poem is a work for all of us. It serves as a snapshot of 21st Century America as a place in the midst of change and redefinition of itself.