Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Dallas Salad


In this city of the southern plains people form a variegated net of ethnicities. I change stations on my AM radio and hear the lilting tongues speak in Vietnamese, Eritrean, Arabic, Spanish and Cantonese. Busy bees looking for nectar in concrete walls and mega stores. I bet there is honey somewhere, hidden, waiting to be savored by all hungry souls.
I also hover over this sprawled city in North Texas. It is a stretch of humanity. A city that is having open heart surgery at the moment. We all wait to see what will become of Dallas, a cloned city at the moment. I see the endless network of roads, overpasses and expressways. A circulation system of pure concrete. I haven't be able to find the face of this city. It seems that I have to look very hard. I only see hints of cohesion, mists of creative energy, friendly people ready to have a common cause.
I am Dallas. Not yet ready for prime time, searching for identity and relevance. But quite friendly to be honest.