Elaine

Yesterday we played in alleys that emptied out to busy roadways Now today those lanes are lush valleys of neglected, over-grown terrain I'm ashamed at the lack of any order and it kills my will to visit in that state That's okay things change and I'm older and I won't go back to live there anyway Elaine We were children with powers limited to our will to create An escape far beyond our town's boundaries that held us down like tigers in a cage It's a place that at times was pretty brutaland I lost a lot of my innocent ways We'd play unsupervised on the corners but we lived to tell the tales another day Yesterday we had places to run We had fun growing up Elaine I can still see two children on their way to school Where the nuns would beat us if we didn't behave As we'd run through the gardens of grown-ups who would chase us all away It was great in the summer sun, calling the names of all the friends that we made Now today we are born and die from boredom Yes, I'm biased, but it just isn't the same My complaint is we deprive kids from exploring Your child's living in a nanny-state Long ago, yesterday, we were taught to look both ways before you cross Elaine The youth that we lost was replaced with age, but that's the cost Our ideals had a place yesterday When the street lights came on, we would know It was time to go home Elaine Our old neighborhood, so vibrant has decayed It was alive, but it has died The good times are hard to sustain But somewhere in my heart, they remain I'll always remember Elaine