Not sure how I earned the right
To flee that day
While everything we'd seen and done
Began to wash away
But I took that break
No questions asked
The mayor swears, his prayers, on air
Fears laid bare on anchors' faces
Dogs are whimpering from the roofs
A city's history vainly braces
The waterline licks at the door
And window panes, they start to tremble
Reality turned on its head
In no way, does this resemble mine
Just like everyone else
When I traveled there
I arrived with next to nothing and then left with less
And in a throwaway haze
Our souls unloaded
This time
It gave into the stress
I guess
Landed, headed straight on home
Combing AM stations to glean
A sense of what I'd left behind
Was it just as they'd foreseen?
Finally, I reached TV
And imagery of those who stayed through
That's a memory you don't shake
Watching others face the fate you dodged
And in a throwaway haze
Our souls unloaded
This time
It gave into the stress
I guess