This Town

As it was back 
when we were young, 
but now we see it;

as it was back
when we were blind,
but now we feel it;

this town’s got a few citizens
and a lot of inhabitants.
Very few ever cross over

from just sleeping here
and mowing the lawn
to being here and present.

This is how it has been
all the time we have been in this place.
People let the town happen

and hang the consequences
unless they are direct and personal.
That’s how the whole country happens,

in fact: in spite of, not because. 
So little is intentional.
It’s a town doing town things

in a country 
which has slipped into
something more comfortable,

as it was back
when we were blind to it,
but now we feel it prodding 

something sharp into 
our backs. As it was back
when we were young,

before we could see
how few ever think of this town
as home for anyone unlike them.