Town Square

Riding on a midnight bus and through the window
I read the signposts like pages in a storybook
In the flare of a truck on the white line trail
I search the roadside
For West Tuconia, for Cantown, and for Kellybrook
Hook Mountain, Tylerville
And the bridge to Razor Ridge and Jasper Hill
Strike a match for a smoke and I look for the lake
They’ve drained and dried it
And built a foundry, a drive-in, and a Burger King
In the flatland, green once spread like a sheet
They’ve cleaned and cleared it
What are they thinking
Or don’t they think of anything?
Hook Mountain, Tylerville
Where’s the bridge to Razor Ridge and Jasper Hill?
We had better draw the line and form a circle
Around the town square, the steeple, and the library
And for each village green making way for a road
We’ll block the highway
And say, «Enough now, enough now, won’t you let it be?»
Hook Mountain, Tylerville
Save the bridge to Razor Ridge and Jasper Hill