Hometown Skeptics

They never like to see you go

But they are always the first to call you out.

"Failure" and "the town disappointment"

Are what they add to their list of crimes.

They are all critics with hammers to beat out your dreams.

They are all the liars who smear your name in the dirt.

The sacrilegious were prude, and liberals were the heretics.

They forced you to choose a side,

But you rathered the middle.

You were the Devil's advocate, so they called you a lost sheep.

It was like the scene of the socs and greasers,

Who did everything they could to assemble their army of bandits or troublemakers.

Even in moments where you couldn't tell one from the other,

They all made noise just the same.

So you fell in love with a pretty thing with promises in those eyes and "forever" etched on those lips.

Together, you packed your shit and got the hell away from those hometown skeptics.

But they'll be at the gates by nightfall or looking for you in the morning. So, leave your Chevy in the driveway and hurry out the backroads. They won't realize you're gone.