Reinvention is the mother of necessity
Me, I've worked hard to trudge through all the stereotypes
I'm aware that you're listening to the same rain I am, I just
haven't worked up the nerve to leave town
It is the neutral ground that terrifies us
Some of this town is clearly my Eden alone
and some of it yours
It is in between our dividing lines, in those contested war zones
that we feel the paranoia
The territorialism, and the respect necessary to be unable to
discern the predator from the prey
In these cobblestone homes, edifices and fossils
Certain restaurants, breezeways,
We could paint this town red looking for trouble
Looking for each other, feverishly, at every turn, on every street,
only wanting to justify our own fears and
to know that the other squirms the same way
This pavement was our garden, Helen
I would sooner deal with you, even
than deal with this city, all its neutral mutual artifacts
between us
The parts of this city left unpunished
bird's nests we have both placed ourselves inside
to be reborn
The things we can both understand