When it rains
it leaves behind that damp smell
of grass and earth and trees
and i think of the mountain
where i spent the my summers
wading in a pond and catching
newts and tadpoles
and how even in july
it got so cold at night
that we built fires.

And when i hear that song play
i think of the book i read
while i listened to it over and over
and the story and the song
are unrelated
but i can't think about one
without the other.

And when i drive down this one stretch of road
even in the day
i feel the tension and paranoia
that was brought on by the scary story
someone told me
as we drove to my house.

And so i wonder
if you me tell this is a nation
an entire nation
over and over
will i one day
see only what you told me
when i think of this nation
and forget all
other faces?