And Emptier

At 500,000
We started to notice
Looked up and down Greenmount
Saw space where there shouldn't be
Looked at each other
And thought about leaving
Did quick calculations
And realized we couldn't

At 400,000
We start to get nervous
We call all our friends
And check on our neighbors
We add up what's lost
And count up who's missing
Did they leave for the County
Or fade into vapor?

At 300,000
We turn to the government
Now is the time, we said
To stand together
Help never came
And one day we realized
In their eyes, the sooner
We were gone, the better

At 200,000
We were struck with the notion
We'd become outnumbered
More vacants than people
This ravenous hunger
Too big to be sated now
Howls all around us
In the belly of the beast

At 100,000
We implement policies
Keep your eyes on each other
Go nowhere alone
It works for a while
But nobody's perfect
Closed our eyes for a minute
And everything was gone

I hope I'm not the last one
Alone in this city
No one to say goodbye to
No one to protect me
I will wait for the ending
On home plate at Camden
I will sit here cross-legged
Let the emptiness take me