Swallow

I avoid driving all the way down the freeway to my rightful exit now. That exit is like a slide that is swallowed by the mouth of this city. It leads to the center by the Denny's and the gas station. I've always had inexplicable feelings towards that exit, and now that I've been elsewhere and back, I know why I've hated it all these years and why now I unconsciously avoid it. It leads me smack dab in the middle of this tiny speck that is made up of a mere 18.45 miles of pure...unoriginality. Every third house is modeled the same in my neighborhood, there's one of each type of public school, a few churches, and the ever present beach territory. It all makes out one circular net, encompassing 68,000 people. I praise this city on the notion that it was safe and good to me as I grew up and because I am aware of the unfortunate situations of others who live in shanty towns, and mud huts, or nowhere at all. But this is me, these are my spoken feelings that if I kept bottled up, would bloat me inside out until I exploded. Today, as I drove down the free-flowing freeway, no traffic (unusual for my after work drive), I still got off one exit early just to avoid that swallowed up slide. It's like deja vu every day here, same things, same feel, and everyone locks up by 8:00 p.m. This town is wound up and exhausted all at the same time. I was taught to breath again in the big city, and now I must swallow up all the air I can in my chest until further notice.