Photo by Kalei Christensen
by Tod Christensen
There’s a thousand of them spread all over the Midwest and the West
and if you grew up in one, more than likely you think you were blessed
They are their own little worlds full of the people you laughed with and loved
With their names written up in the sky on their water towers above
Each one unique but also the same
there was always a reason behind each of their names
The people were characters but shared many core traits
and some crazy good people these small towns would create
There were as many churches as there ever were bars
and most kids always had a chance to become their town’s star
Everyone would root for you no matter the season,
there was no shame in losing but quitting was treason
Driving down Main Street on weekends just to be seen,
maybe there wasn’t fine dining but there was always a Dairy Queen
If there wasn’t a sale barn there was one somewhere close by,
and if you didn’t care about that, you wanted things to be knee high by the 4th of July
The radios would crackle with the farm report and weather
and if the storm sirens screamed we would all shelter together
Hard work was a virtue we would all learn to embrace
Honor and honesty were the values we would chase
Each season always brought with it some very special treats
with flags or decorations usually lining the streets
If a family celebrated or mourned we all did too
and time seemed to drag until suddenly it flew
It wasn’t perfect but it was pretty good looking back
even if there was a right and a wrong side of the tracks
A lot of us left after they gave us our cap and our gown,
but we never stopped loving our Water Tower Town
