It’s like home.
Only not.
I don’t know.
Its the most familliar place on earth to me
But I feel so out of place
Strolling down my own Memory Lanes anymore
I guess that’s pretty common though
So, yes
It’s like home.

We have farmland
Very little,
But it seems to be enough
For folks on the other side of the mountain
To honestly believe we’re all just hicks

We have sprawling spiderweb housing developments
Where all the dysfunctional American dreamers set up their families
Some with "custom-built" homes
Some in the cookie cutter houses from the 50s
Like the one I live in.
We do have hicks
Plenty of them, and I like most of them the best
One of them is my best friend from grammar school
We have lifelong friedships
Not to mention rivalries

We have Route 59
Which is just mall after mall of one variety of another
Be it mega-, mini-, or strip-mall.

We have traffic lights
In some of the dumbest places
Because rich people complain too damn much.

We have cops that get paid
$100,00 a year
To walk around commuter parking lots
And look for cars to leave "expired inspection" tickets on.

I think there might
Be a Klan member or two
Somewhere in Tompkins Cove.

We have immigrants galore
Mostly Hispanic and Hatian
As far as I can tell

I don’t pay much attention though
We’re all pink inside
And if you’re an asshole
I wont not tell you
Just because you’re not Caucasian
And if you’re not an asshole
I wont think you are
Just because you’re not Caucasian
As a matter of fact
I'll probably like you
If you're sincere

We have broken hearts
Pining hearts
Lonely ones
Happy ones too, sometimes
(All wraped up in one chest)
But never for very long
Near as I can figure, anyway

Close your eyes
For a Neverland moment
And look at the colors
Like Wendy, John, and Michael did

When the colors go on fire
And you feel everything at once
You'll know

That's what it's like where I live
And probably you too.

Like home
Only not

But you always go back

06/14/2005

Author's Note: Philip McKnight finally gave me a chance to romanticize my hometown. Thank you! =)

Posted on 06/15/2005
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