I never would have known

The neighborhood wasn’t safe

The overgrown trees and brick row houses

Were my heaven

And with that church next door

And the fence behind

Our little yard felt like a wide open space

The busy street to the south

Felt miles away

And the shopping center

Was just noise

And we’d run so fast

That we couldn’t see

And the dog would always win

And though you’d always

try to scare us

With stories of strangers

staring through our windows

And visitors in the night

With threats of guns

That little house was our home

And our pounding hearts

Never believed you anyway

You had quite a way

Of unleashing your unsettled heart

On the happiness of boys

Which is precisely why

We one or two or three a year