Salem 8th-Grader Pens Inauguration Poem 'Sidewalks Of Salem'

SALEM, MA — A highlight of Monday's municipal inauguration ceremony in Salem was Collins Middle School eighth-grader Liana Galvin's reading of her poem "Sidewalks of Salem."

This fall, Collins and Saltonstall middle schoolers were challenged to write a poem celebrating the Witch City.

Mayor Dominick Pangallo said the city received many remarkable pieces with a booklet put together to feature the students' work.

(Also on Patch: 'Salem Wants Solutions': Mayor Eyes Challenges In State Of The City)

Finalist Galvin was chosen to read her poem during the inauguration:

"Sidewalks of Salem"

by Liana Galvin

No matter where you walk, there's a way

There's a path

Cracked concrete, backed with memories of the past

Of horses trampling, or maybe the weather

Of shoes against the concrete, running off for the better

Pursuing a new hope, this city of peace

Known for the people and the legends and myths and the peace

You are not defined by your past, O Salem,

Look around and see how you're steadily healing!

Too many different sidewalks to count, so I shout,

"Communities about, let's stand together,

Passing through the future without a shadow of doubt,

Come join in the path of love, and we'll soon find out--"

Where our future comes from, here resides,

The people of Salem, so magnified,

The autumn leaves blow about by October,

The winds of change are never so sober,

You can’t give up hope here, with something to say,

A word of kindness, hope, or a glorious day

In Salem lie the depths of an early history,

Something so deep, something so heavy, BUT

Nothing too irreversible, nothing too horrible,

Light outshines the darkness, call the people and communities:

Different ways of life, different skin tones, and walk next to me—

Take a journey through the streets of Salem!

See how the choices, the legacy of the past stands here

Today

On an ever-brightening path

Make a choice now, as you step on the cracks—

Look up, there's hope when you look for it:

Oh Salem, you're a blessing, you’re so golden

With your people, kind hearts-- again, communities,

I stand on the sidewalks and lovingly remember the unity

Of people walking here, side by side

On the sidewalks of beauty, people unified.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)