Ghost Towns

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Ghost Towns

 

In the old west there were ghost towns

Towns that sprung up overnight

Along the trail of wagon trains

To feed the great migration

Along the path of gold and silver

To feed the dreams of poverty

Boom and bust towns

Towns that rose from the dust

Drowned in rotgut liquor

Played hard and fast with women

Indulged in life’s forbidden pleasures

And vanished like a dream

Like a wanton drunken dream

People came and settled in

Until the gold dried up

Until the railroad moved on

Until the boom went bust

 

We’re about to enter a new age

Of the boom-and-bust ghost towns

Desert towns deserted

For lack of drinking water

For lack of irrigation

Towns overrun by rust and waste

Towns that bet it all on false promises

False gods, false prophets and false profits

Towns that thrived on agriculture

Towns that imploded on technology

Gambling towns and tourist towns

Towns that used to court life

Before the party ended

Now all that remains are memories

And ghosts