Middletown

Middletown


              I've severed my own arm once again
                    Everything faded to black
                  Then I woke up in Middletown
              Where once the machines roared

          Now their voices echo back from China
          Where our rich men have sold our soul
                An occasional puff of steam
          The smell of charred tires and wet paper

        Meth has transformed 30 year old women
      Into 80...two teeth, sagging... hopeless eyes
              Nobody smiles here in Metaltown
                Not even the old Ohio Jesters.

                  I trod the dusty town streets
                  The bank, still open, Duh!
                The town in its death throws
            Huge buildings crumble more each day

                It's cheaper to build a new town
                Than to resurrect the old glory
                  Bricks fall to the alley way
                Like hairs from a barber chair

          "Excuse me sir, could you spare a dollar?"
              (The most commonly heard phrase).
            Ragged bluejeans stained with urine
                "God bless you, my brother"

            Why spit on what's already decayed?
                  What we need is dynamite
          And Samuel Clemens to light the match
              This place is an embarrassment

                Someday, after the ice age
            The birds will fly over Piddletown
                Where no human breathes
  They've all scattered like wild dogs after gunshots.

                The sunsets will be lovely
        Even when none will place eyes to them
          Ivy and trees will swallow the bricks
      A statue of some man is all that's left of us.