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My Home Town

MY HOME TOWN
by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS	
Time moves on never stands still
It changes the outcome no matter the will
Of the dreamers who hold on to and then
Each moment happens once then never again
I had a feeling this trip was not wise
Reviving old memories,  my golden prize

I drove all night got here near dawn
This wonderful place where I was born
I notice the houses along the route
Most  look abandoned  weeds all about
The old cattle house is shuttered  down
A desolate feeling fills lacking of sound

The roof is sagging the signs are faint
The entire building in dire need of paint
The old cattle stalls have fallen over
Wires are rusted and where is the drover
This auction house been here for many a year
I can still hear auctioneer loud and clear

I am anxiously waiting to see my old town
The sights that I witness are dragging me down
Its mid morning in town,  no ones in sight
Stores are closed shut and boarded up tight
The only gas station in deplorable condition
It looks like the fifties in total remission

The main intersection has only one light
Amber on both sides blinks red at night
As I wind my way to the old home stead
I see  shabby houses the feeling is dread 
Farms look abandoned on both sides of the road
The fields are barren no crops have been sowed 

I turn a hard left  down this old country lane
My memories are  different,  yet the place is the same
I can see the crop duster’s hangar a derelict hut
There are no planes, no props not a rusty strut
I stop at the place where my house once stood
Nothing , a burned out shell, a few pieces of wood
My home town (2)



I’m not quite sure that  I can  fully digest
My memories of  where my life was the best 
Were they real or just a hopeful illusion
Were my recollections  real or wishful confusion
I’ve been robbed of cherished childhood  scenes
That carried me forward,  my personal dreams

Was the picket fence as white as I deemed
Or did I exaggerate , to think  it pristine
My eye spots an old face its sam I think 
Hello sam I said he gave a smile and a wink
Tell me sam what the heck happened here
Where’s the warmth , the joy all the good cheer

Well I’ll tell you as best I can relate 
It didn’t take long to reach this deplorable state
About twelve  years ago,  they opened a store
At highway eleven and state  road twenty four
They sold everything that one could consume
Two acres under roof and lots more room

That was the beginning the first step to the end
The local business owners couldn’t contend
The myriad of products and really cheap
You can shop all night no need to sleep
One by one the local shops had to close
There were no jobs ,unemployment rose

This wasn’t restricted to our little town
Same condition happened for miles  around
With no businesses to pay local taxes
Services and utilities were put to the axes
Things were paid from a  volunteer fund
This entire area proclaimed to be moribund

I wonder how many had to say good bye
To  family, friends, due to goods from shanghai
But here is the best part which is hardly known
Government gave them the land in a tax free zone
They won’t have to pay taxes that’s a hell of a deal
That’s almost like issuing a license to steal

Copyright © John Arribas | Year Posted 2016

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