Anywhere but Here

There is solace in the Stars
So she pulls a handful down
And sprinkles them in her cocoa
Her smile sips to warm the heart
She belongs to the Mountain’s night

Not so, but so far away
The twinkle of the city lights
Fades as reality gives way to Dreams
Dreams we clutch in our hands
Like grains of sand
Knowing we will have to let go
And let our hopes slip softly through our fingers
“Anywhere but here,” she says
“I can hold on”

He cannot breathe
Amidst this bar full of beggar-whores
And men playing popped collar tug-of-war
In these eight-dollar drink beauty pageants
Whence comes this tradition--
Idolatry of the mediocre existence?
What have they done? What have we done?
“What am I doing?” he says
“Anywhere but here”

Here there is
Concrete outgrowing palm trees
Here there are
Weeds outgrowing playgrounds
Here there is
Quantity

Long ago
Our Pangean ancestors longed to be apart
“Let us go our separate ways”
“Anywhere but here” in caveman speak
And so they began to drift apart
So far away

Alas! The cycle, inexorable
The crash course, set
The longing…ebbs
And you will return
Oh yes, you will return
Until you suffocate
Under the guise of night and
Blame

But why they couldn’t say
Hello or
Thank You
Here
But there they most definitely could
But here
They won’t
I do not know
Wait…no
I do not know
Anywhere but Here
They say hello