The Street That Wasn’t There

Oh, the guys that make the roadmaps
They work with great precision
To register the changes
Since the previous edition
And they chart out the coordinates
Of every park and square
Then to detect unlicensed copies
They add a street that isn't there

Well back before I learned this stuff
When I was just a child
There was a little dead-end street
We lived on for a whilе
And I can still remember
All thе happy times we shared
The best part of my childhood
Was the time that we were there

There was Casey on the corner
And the twins across the way
And we'd be at someone's house
Together almost every day
And there was caroling at Christmas
And a cookout in July
But then one year we moved away
I never quite knew why

But I remember
The summer nights of hide and seek
We'd chase the fireflies
That [rose?] along the little creek
We knew all our neighbors
And their children and their dogs
There were lights on all the porches
And the doors were never locked

Well, I had hit a low point
I was weary and alone
When I happened to be passing through
The town I once called home
And I thought I might find something
That would guide my faltering feet
If I could only walk again
Along my little dead-end street

So I hung a left on Dogwood
And another one on Fern
But then I fetched up at the high school
And I hadn't seen the turn
So I doubled back around again
And checked each sign with care
And then I checked my roadmap
And the street just wasn't there

I couldn't just have missed it
And they hadn't changed the name
There was no new construction
All the rest looked just the same
And the guy I asked at City Hall
Could only sit and stare
"That can't be where you lived," he said
"That street was never there"

But I remember
The summer nights of hide and seek
We'd chase the fireflies
That [rose?] along the little creek
We knew all our neighbors
And their children and their dogs
There were lights on all the porches
And the doors were never locked

So I went back and studied
As a civil engineer
I mastered city planning
And I made it my career
And then I charted out my old hometown
With every park and square
And then I made a wish
And drew the street that wasn't there

And that is where you'll find me now
When things are going fine
They're cooking out on Sunday
But you're welcome anytime
And I will introduce you
To my neighbors round the block
My porch is always lighted
And my door is never locked