Ah, progress

my name is alex
and i'm from suburbia
i choose not to give my town a name
even though it has one
it's named after robert e simon, the founder
hence "RES-TON", Reston
a very specific name indeed
but i think that's kind of bullshit
because it doesn't really need one
there's not much difference between here and there
and usually
it's hard to tell if you're anywhere
at any rate i like my town
there's the clean clear sky and the dirty brown muddy water
in the lake behind my house
that my dad and i used to canoe back and forth, up and back
as if we were in the wilderness
and the snow on the lake in winter that means
its time for cream of wheat with mom because there's no school that day
and the hot august cross country practices
that left me drenched in my own sweat
and the humid haze of spring and early summer
that forced us all into the air conditioned safety
of home, of house
it sounds disgusting
it is absolutely awful
but i miss it, because "it" is home, and everyone needs a home and i love
home, no matter how much i say i hate home and no matter how much i want
to run away from home which is almost always --
i dont go home much
there's a reason for that: it's a long way east.
it's 1000 miles east, in fact -- maybe a little less
that's a 16 hour drive for those of you who havent done it
through empty illinois plains and the flat ohio grasslands
or its a two hour flight
over patchwork terrain green and brown
farmlands and small cities here and there
i usually fly -- its easier that way
at any rate i never expected to get lost in my hometown
especially in a sea of condos and yuppie apartments
that i had never seen before.
that i had never known were being built.
but there they were.
and there i was.
and i was lost.