For all the time I've spent wondering
how I could ever go back
I guess I never really understood
how I ever went forward either
Yeah my way was hard to find
Can't sell your soul for peace of mind
Square One my slate is clear
Sometimes the earlier simpler challenges
can be the most impactful
leave the deepest impressions
I was living to run and running to live
Never worried about paying or even how much I owed
1998 or maybe 99
A lime green Game Boy Color
that I had to share with my brother
my brother, who always seemed more intelligent
always more diligent, always more deft
at navigating those puzzles and stories and games
Us, and Pokemon Pinball, and Pokemon Blue
This is where we walked
This is where we swam
Take a picture here
Take a souvenir
And it was there
the only direction my first steps could take me
that I made my first otherworldly accomplishment
And it was there
within the lore of the television show
that one of my first real heroes
made his first real enemy
who would turn into his first real friend
(or perhaps his second enemy and second friend)
Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then
But this is my generation
This is what taught us to take steps
not woods and neighborhoods
This is what taught us to catch and raise things
not teenage pregnancy
This is what taught us to show off and compete
not broken bones on grassy fields
We stayed in
and that's where we went really
Not to Pewter City
but further inside
It took a world of trouble
Took a world of tears
Yeah it took a long time
To get back here
Bob Seger - Against the Wind
R.E.M. - Cuyahoga (Stipe)
Tom Petty - Square One