churchtown

might as well be lost for the speed you're going,

might as well be standing still for the direction you're heading.

not the first time you've been lost in churchtown,

not the first churchtown you've been lost in.

it's always late afternoon and the sun never goes down.

there are no sirens in churchtown.

the church bells are always ringing in churchtown.

churchtown, new england.

there are abandoned mills in churchtown.

there's one liquor store in churchtown,

and one gas station, which also sells beer.

there are more churches in churchtown,

than there are in most towns.

at night in churchtown, the sun never comes up.

you can drink all night and never feel drunk,

until you wake up reaching for a bottle of pills and orange soda

which turns out to be only about 60% orange soda

which is not a surprise but also a nonplus to you

because even 100% orange soda is not refreshing,

flat and warm.

churchtown knows about hard times.

churchtown has hit hard times, but the church bells still ring.

churchtown doesn't talk about its problems

because it knows you have problems of your own.

and so in return, you don't try and tell churchtown either.

so in churchtown you talk about things like the weather,

or what you will eat for dinner,

and sometimes a lopsided knowing lip gesture is exchanged,

but the sentiment is in the eyes,

and it's better that way in churchtown.