Street roots
11
äÄääJ )ÏÎÜiU5‘7
Aug. 5 2011
I bought an eighth of
smoke
Author unknown
I bought an eighth of smoke from a neighbor
A six-pack and some chocolate from the store
on the corner.
I am an old gypsy now
One who looks at maps and smiles
Happy with where I’ve been and not been.
My thumb is no longer a ticket
I no longer fall in love with waitresses in sad cafes,
Or shave in service-station bathroom mirrors.
I no longer cook fish on beaches by campfire,
Or rise out of the tall grass from a sleeping bag cocoon.
I no longer wait out rainstorms in Laundromats,
Or write letters from strange libraries.
I remember a sign in a window that said:
NO BEATNICKS.
Fifteen years later it said:
NO HIPPIES.
Time passes. Each day we are older.
West crumbles under wrecking ball
I smoked the last roach from the abalone shell ashtray
on the bureau.
I ate the last piece of chocolate from the cupboard.
I drank the last Corona from the fridge,
And waited for the world
Like one pig waits for another.
BY AM ANDA WALDROUPE
S TAFF W R IT E R
Abe West Hotel, a single resident occupany
(SRO) hotel built in 1905 arid which provided
-B. housing to 27 low-income people, is officially
no more.
A seven-story building with 42 studio apartments
affordable for people with incomes at or below 45
percent of median family income will replace i t The
building will be owned and operated by the
Macdonald Center, a Catholic-inspired assisted living
facility and social-service agency located directly next
to the construction site (on the other side of the
construction site is SisteFs of the Road Cafe)? The
first floor of the building will house the Macdonald
I
Center’s expanded outreach and support services.
The project cost is just over $10 million dollars,
funded by state tax credits, the Oregon Housing
Trust Fund and private money raised by the
Macdonald Center. The Macdonald Center has owned
the property that was the West Hotel since October
2008. Originally, the Macdonald Center planned to
simply renovate the West, but it would have need
extensive, and costly, repairs..
The West was originally scheduled to be
demolished in January. It’s.low-income residents-
many of whom are elderly, disabled, mentally ill,
felons, or registered sex offenders* were relocated
over the period of several months.
Can You See Me Now? fort 1)
Reflections on Ihlestine
Sarah Farahat
Il
July 16 th-August 13th, 2011
M
ir a d o r .
COMMUNITY
Organic cotton
sheets, towels,
& blankets
N atural Kitchen
& Home
Food dryers
Opening Reception: July 16th 6-9pm
2 1 0 6 SE D iv isio n
All Events are FREE& OPEN to the Public
(Doors at 6:30pm and events begin promptly at 7pm)
July 20th
Jou rnalism an d N ew M edia
in the M iddle Fast:
Lecture and Discussion with
Stanford Fellow Jenka Soderburg
and Palestinian Journalist
Saed Bannoura
5 0 3 « 2 3 1 -5 1 7 5
m iradorcom m onitystore.com
M on-S at 10-6 * Sun 11-5
Juicers
Books on meat-free
cooking, gardening
& sustainability
August 2nd
SltngsAof //ïp Hop:
A Free Film Screening for Youth
with discussion following
August 3rd
From South Africa to Palestine:
The Shaping o f a M ovem ent
through Boycott, D ivestm ent
and Sanctions: Portland Activists
discuss their past arid present work
July 30th
First Hand:
A Night o f Storytelling from the
Wes t Bank and Gaza
Canning jars &
equipment,
cookware, kitchen
tools & appliances
August 11th
To the Land o fO z* and
Back Again: a conversation
with the artist
H ie Settlement @ Pioneer Place Mall
700 SW 5th Ave, PDX, OR 97204
¿ s h o p lo c a l
( e a t fre sh