canada
The hours go by to the sound of the wrecking ball as it obliterates an entire block of buildings that have stood for the past 75 years. The clearing of the land continues for days, with dancing cranes moving piles of what can now be called debris across the sky, and then drops it into waiting trucks that transfer it to fresh landfills.
For weeks I watch the demolition from the window in my studio directly across the street. The timing coincides with the new experience of teaching from my desktop computer while Covid 19 transforms our world. “Pivot” becomes the normalizing term for something that nobody wants to normalize.
While much of the world shuts down, the hum of urban development never stops. The gentrification of this
industrial neighbourhood is in full force.
I have lived on the edge of gentrification in a handful of cities. At times I’ve been a part of it, while at other times it has made it necessary to relocate. With every move, and every new place to call home, the dance of time determines my sense of place.