This hollow town tried to deceive me, to make me believe that she is beautiful.
But the houses here are all empty, the doors are locked and the curtains are pulled.
The streets were paved of the blackest asphalt, void of any shine or shimmer.
The sky is grey and the clouds are dense; the sun is dull and the stars are dimmer.
I traipse around in search of a sound, like the bark of a dog or a child’s chuckle.
The frost has made a treacherous ground and the ice is biting at my knuckles.
I tell myself winter is a dreadful season – I’ll like this town much more in the summer.
By the time June rolls around my heart’s grown weary and my eyes start to wander.
I’ll pack my bags and run away, I tell myself that I’ll find a safe haven.
The airport isn’t far away, and it’s just a few miles to the train station.
As I gather my things, I hear muffled screams, and a wild wind pushes closed all the shutters.
I hear the door latch from within, then the walls are filled with low-pitched mutters.
One would assume a ghost or ghoul or forsaken spirit was roaming around.
But I was familiar to the cries and the desperate pleading of the lonely town.
The same voice whispers me to sleep at night and burrows in my dreams.
It takes this melancholy, empty world and fills it with warm and tangible things.
She puts a light dusting over my mirror to obscure the ugliness of my face.
And she rattles the vents and the water pipes to kill the awkward silence in this massive space.
This hollow town was meant for me, she’s kindred to myself and my hollow shell.
I guess I’ll stay a little longer, until one of us finds a tenant viscous enough to fill
That black and gaping empty space that swallows anything warm and real.
Beyond this Smile 