There was a young girl and she was from
A beautiful little town
And then it occurred to her as she stirred
That this place was now dragging her down.
*
When little, there was so much
That made her laugh and play
Then as she grew she realized too
How she didn’t want to stay.
*
The frozen lake, the grand canal
The endless big green lawns
The after-schools, the long carpools
With the sports team we played on.
*
It all looked great upon first glance
Those houses so lovely and huge
But keep your word in this suburb
That there’s nothing wrong with you.
*
If you have an drinking problem
Or an affair you want to keep quiet
Can’t pay your bills? Your son’s on pills?
Those things you’ll want to stay silent
*
Everything here is about the address
And the utter prestige of your zip code
Because in this place it’s an utter disgrace
For your weaknesses to be shown.
*
Oh if only! I could embrace the sweet warm days
I remember from most of my child-hood
Ignorant of the class warfare that was cast
In my beloved, my flawed neigbor-hood.
photo from Barbara Paulsen at tandemechoes.com.
The Exceptional Everyday 
Neighbourhoods can hold you back indeed, especially when everything is just a facade. We should be wary though because the grass always seems greener elsewhere….and every place has its dark but also a beautiful side.
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Very well said. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this. I still love the old neighborhood, despite its faults.
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This is strong writing about the truth of a community. The assonant rhyme brings the work together in a verbal and aural way. Thank you!
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I grew up in the country where everybody knows, or thinks they know everything about you based on your extended families antics.
I choose to grow my own humans in the Canadian Rockies, a place where lots of the world believes is paradise…..but I’m sure they will say the same thing about their home town.
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