I’m sittin’ at the end of this dock,
I’ve walked this way to find my beginning,
The boards of this dock creaking,
As I am the man,
The androgynous man,
With a cigarette hangin’ outta my mouth,
Today I am wearing brown pants,
Black t-shirt,
Flannel shirt in the truck,
Tomorrow I wear jeans,
These people keep passin’ through here,
Keep on passin’ through,
Going somewhere better they say,
Gotta get out of this place,
To some hippie idea of community,
This ain’t going work for me – the working man,
I wave my hand at em’ in disappointment,
Ain’t got time for thinking why these people don’t care,
This hippie idea forgets about the struggle of people like myself,
Residing in towns like Manistee,
Some “progressive” who turns their nose up at this place,
“Oh your from Manistee” in a derogatory tone,
Blinds closed,
Poverty,
Addictions,
Too much of an eyesore,
That town stinks from the pollution,
Keep on going I say,
Wave em’ away,
I am the androgynous man in brown pants,
Reminiscing about the days of family get-togethers,
Hot summer days,
Playing “redneck” horseshoes as some yuppie would say,
But they are just horseshoes to me,
I own this and I ain’t got no shame,
Eating watergate salad,
Thinking about the power lines towering over us in this Hazel Park backyard,
Just a few blocks north of 8 Mile Road,
From the D to the Stee to KBIC,
Don’t belittle,
Don’t be mean,
Bright minds,
Bright hearts,
Get tossed aside near the railroad tracks,
We pick up the pieces,
Mend our families,
Mend our souls,
Ya see I am the androgynous man in brown pants,
Driving the rusted old Chevette,
To a rusted old Ford,
There is always something better,
I try to make all of this work,
A heavy heart like a ball of iron,
Heavy heart from the generations,
Heavy from this identity,
Existing in this body,
Existing in this skin,
Gender deviation,
Equals community alienation,
And I ponder all of this,
As the androgynous man in brown pants,
In a woman’s body,
Here at the lake,
Watching her ways.
