Bryan St

The asphalt had a pattern of cracks I knew by heart

Like a map of every summer, before we grew apart

had the porch light that flickered slow

While the cornfields was the only king we’d know

We measured out our lives in the distance between the curbs

Writing stories in the oil stains, too young for better words.

Oh, take me back to Bryan Street

Where the tar stayed warm beneath my feet

Where the world was only five blocks wide

And we had nothing left to hide

Just a lake view road with a heavenly view

On Bryan Street, when the world was new.

I can still hear the screen doors slamming like a drum

The sound of neighbor voices and the evening’s distant hum

The ghosts of old dirt bikes laying up against the shed

Back when every scraped-up knee was a major consequence

We were racing for the sunset before the streetlights buzzed

Trying to stay exactly the way that we once was.

The names have changed on the mailboxes now

And the hedges grew too tall

But if I closed my eyes, I’d bet somehow

I’d still recognize it all.

Oh, take me back to Bryan Street

Where the tar stayed warm beneath my feet

Where the world was only three blocks wide

And we had nothing left to hide

Just a lake view road with a heavenly view

On Bryan Street, when the world was new.

Yeah, it’s just a line upon a map

A little quiet neighborhood gap

But it’s where I learned to be me...

On Bryan Street.