crows near barn    faded red    white stripe panes
scitter scatter    peck at grass
crunch leaves
coated floor    scavenging seeds
overhead like gold/red skyscrapers
angular    tall
declension
touches down
free fall
folks claim it's passed us by
it jostles senses
ramshackle deck    weak 'n worn    flimsy 'n haphazard
wobbly    uncertain    ***** on railing
fall into hands
dismantling of childhood
once was    no longer is
whistles blow crunchers onto old meeting place
furry Beanie Baby zips across pole

hit the fields runnin'    check back
brother    sister
let me teach ya'll    how to act

don't wind up shunned    by the Pharisee crowd,
wave ****** flag cool    colors loud
don't hold    baited 'n hooked
people    push 'n shove

take another look    see **** ya'll do
to me    us    anyone
bicker clash

dustups    like jabs    at punchin' bags,
knock testament    down    inside gut
play rough    balance tough    ***** dumps

can't have    place on run    not planned or deliberate
desecration's child
dislodged    drabbletailed     'n wild

daemon/cacodemon sittin' on shoulder
presses down    like cinder blocks
reels 'n rocks

steps in avenue     make or break
waves goin' steady    backed down 'till now
up in face    utter stainin'
shakedown    beat down
daggers fly around

big shot judge 'n jury    rapid fire sea fury
shook up soda pop    foaming soft
cap off
slides down fast
slow to swallow    won't last
sweet things    arise 'n pass

all that's gotten is seen
don't gauge I'm gonna flip-flop
I say it brusque
I'll furnish it bald
backers aren't closely precise
don't tell me no whoppers
I'm not gonna gnaw
biting
gut
deep-seated
babbles
bellow
people take it
they grasp
forecasts
drag down
fall
jolts me askew
people acting
like foremen
on top of
record breaking
packs
I'll put'em in their place
wipe cackled sneer
off face
go along
watchman
cover steps
handed over or granted
speeds quickly 'round
don't tell me how to sojourn
it'll hold up
zilch
so sort out
road
to trek down
walk warily
or you'll slip up

big road sign
pick'em from trees like giants
apple harvest
jack-o-lantern orange pumpkins
sweet fall cider
soft
crisp
crunch
sip
fire engine red
red on green
row upon row
apple pickers pick
fall
composting clay
autumn ambrosia
in a bite
pumpkins overflow
stacked
up
high
red barn store
wood
baskets
barrels
sweet
red paint
*****
snatched from
outstretched
witch's
hands
cajoling
their symmetry
is
like poisonous
snake
venom
pears
vegetables
root beer logs
peppermint pieces
paper sack
homemade
cookies
crumbly donuts
dusted in
snow
brown bag
packed
tight
like children bundled
for snow
piled in car
headed to cradle

I come from where everyone knows
your name
Everybody acts the same
thinks the same
Doesn’t ever change.
I come from three schools where
there were no secrets
People knew it all.
Same old kids
recycled teachers
Year to year  
saw you at your best n' worse.
I come from school newspapers  n' voice discovery.
Hard to be honest in
country towns where critics aren't
Welcomed.
I come from fabric stained in
rebellion. Instilled by my parents
sowed in experience.
I come from past n' present
in a world that's so lost.
I'll only say it's worth any cost
to reconnect with roots.
Walk steps in my shoes
miles on this highway.
It might become clearer what your
willing to pay.
I come from needing to reform standards
from not wanting to be typecasted 'cause I'm small town America born n' bred.
I come from assumptions that I'm prejudiced
when I'm not.
From needing to figure out my place
inside n' beyond this isolated box
Where people are carbon copies.

Small town America
Enemy n' friend
There's plenty I don't get.

People judge what isn't clear
It'd be nice not to care
It's hard to do when different is odd.

Originality is mocked 'n scorned by
folks who claim to know what's best.

Christianity's just some gimmick
When your heart ain't really in it
But I'm a sinner too I cannot judge.

Don't speak openly about taboo
Subjects lest wrath be invoked.
Problem is walls won't crumble till
They're spoke.

Open mind 'n willingness to compromise
Would be nice
Though I know it will not be.

Small town America
Home of conformity

Nonconformists be shunned
Get yourself set right or we'll send
You on the run.

Small town America
There's traits I like about you

Country roads
Peaceful breeze
Leaves upon tall trees.

Rubbing me wrong is how people treat
One another
Could be they think its normal
to have such kinds of morals.

Don't perceive this as an attack
I'm proud of my roots

It just gets me down
That folks around can be so
Mean.

Small town America
Don’t talk about differences
Everyone has to be identical to the next.

Stuff you leave behind picket fences
To be buried
Left unsaid
In small towns.

Fragments caught up in wind
Aroused prayers of long, shifted spans
Went unheard
Deaf ears?
I wait here.
Pieces caught up in cyclone
Past shell of self
All I ask is no whitewash.
Roll on
Just roll on 'n on.
Splinters caught up in windstorm
Cloudburst breakdown
Chains cut loose
With your past make a truce.