Joseph Parks

Joseph Parks was born in Hell
a small-town hole with small-town smell
one rich man
many poor men
an old movie house
curfew at ten

Joseph tried to fit in
first here, then there
always unsettled, always aware
of some siren song calling
calling his name
a siren song calling him
again and again

Years of stagnation
then one day he left
only to return in a few years hence
with a wife and a child and a long swig of debt
He built a small house with a white picket fence

and with siren songs fading
once clear as a bell
he deepened the hole
and increased the smell

Joseph Parks was back in Hell