Maps

[ALISON]
Make this part look rugged, mmhmm
Allegheny Plateau
This dark shaded stripe, bum bum bum
Is the front.

Paint the long ridges
And valleys below, mm hmm
Our town is this dot.

Quick dashes mark the property ends
Beach Creek, a rope that turns and bends
Little squares for houses, strung along roads
The land transfigured into topographic codes.

Maps show you what is simple and true
Try laying out a bird's eye view
Not what he told you, just what you see
What do you know that's not your dad's mythology?

Dad was born on this farm
Here's our house
Here's the spot where he died
I can draw a circle
His whole life fits inside.

Four miles from our door
I-80 ran from shore to shore
On its way from the Castro
To Christopher Street
The road not taken
Just four miles from our door.

You were born on this farm
Here's our house
Here's the spot where you died
I can draw a circle
I can draw a circle
You lived your life inside.