This is November town
This is winter
Everyone has two faces
No one has a memory
The snows are closing in the churchyards and playgrounds
And everyone is locked away behind warm doors
In rooms with fires fanning fear-lit grins
This is November town
The wharf has closed and won’t reopen
The ships are ice-locked, trapped in crushing blue
The flag on the yard-arm cracks and flaps and has no color
The sun wears a mask of gray and blustery wind
And no one can do anything about it
This is November town
And the people are mad
The wilderness is creeping back
And Spring is a lifetime away
The wrong direction in the truck driver’s frosted mirror as
He speeds away into nothing
And no one remembers his dim lights
The snow-ghosts are the only eyes to see
And they care only for chasing the brittle leaves
Between the rusty chains of swing sets
That blow and blow and blow
This is November town
And the stores have all just closed
The yellow traffic light blinks
Blinks, blinks, blinks,
Swaying, twisting, guiding no one
Home

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