Originally published online Feb 5, 2021 & in the collection I Do Heroin On The Train Line So You Don’t Have To: A Hitchhiker’s Guide To My Galaxie — available here
Chestnut and 4th by Melodie Yvonne
Down deep in this shady motel on the corner of Chestnut and 4th
The walls move 24 hours a day and nobody there’s seen the Lord
A counterfeit tabula rasa in a town known for bein’ just small
But the only thing further away from the truth is how far the cops are from the law
In the streets the meth whores and their “Daddies” slither ‘round sniffin’ for tricks
And there’s no fucking discrimination, no fucking such thing as “just kids”
The days just keep on gettin’ longer and the cold winter nights scurry close
And all of the residents trapped in that place are runnin’ away from their ghosts
And the smell of the aged rotting flesh that piles up so deep in their closets
Brings them together and keeps them from leavin’ like pheromones sprayed ‘round in a brothel
Yet somehow there’s always a room left, that vacancy sign’s always on
And it calls out to lost souls all over the world that get trapped in its wide open arms
That comforting glow of the street lights that makes you feel 16 and free
Just like Stockholm Syndrome can make you feel love the Chestnut can make you love to bleed
And me, I’m not really no different, wanderin’ in off the streets
A part of me’s still right on back there and don’t know if I wanna leave
From that little old sleazy motel room on the corner of Chestnut and 4th
Where the walls move 24 hours a day and no one can save you but the Lord
I left all my innocence back there, on the corner of Chestnut and 4th
I just can’t remember what my life was like before I walked right through that door
Before I stepped into that cold room, on the corner of Chestnut and 4th
Where the walls move 24 hours a day, but you’ll never move there no more.
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