One / My City is a Ghost Town

it is warm outside for the first time in a month / and my city is a ghost town / every server is a Lone Ranger / every grocery store a gold mine / or the front lines / either way my partner still goes to work / I still go to work / put on a brave face / a smile / a not not true not truth / just an empty plate and a holster / just a double barrel full of soap and hot water / just six feet and a take-out only sign / and everything is true and untrue / everything a reality check / a double-take / a dream / a deja-vu gold rush where everything is real and not real / is paper product priceless / is silver dollar soap scum / and health code holsters / every day is a knife unsheathed / a battle cry / an unmarked grave / Lone Ranger brings a loaded pistol / makes a promise and a paycheck / another day on the front lines / a headline / can’t read past another headline / the park is full of people too close together / our homes are full of people too close together / and we are all still lonely here / we are all just trying to make it to the great Wild West / where the hope waits / where the gold is in the water / where the curve is flat and the sunsets are round and full / and my city is a ghost town / still breathing / for now