Whose Town Blinks First Poem by Raj Dronamraju

The same sort of air here
Same family runs the general store for generations
Same principal of the high school for decades

Different air here, dysfunction here
Divorce crushed several small businesses
His son committed suicide which led to the rest of the family moving out of state

Which model presents a more likely town of small stature
Where resignation runs in two different faultlines -
This is close minded repetition, unchanging, and I must escape from it
Or
This is the unhealthy pattern of family chaos and a bad neighborhood

America grows dim the more it revolves away from a vision of itself that wasn't necessarily true for everyone or even a simple majority
And in the wake of this, which vision of small town life wins?
Is it better to romanticize fixed position nostalgia of buildings and familiar people?
Is it better to recognize warts and all neighbors and locals without necessarily liking them?

Seething battle for the microphone, who is the louder claimant for the truth?
Playing chicken for what will become the most common generalization
Which town turns off the road first into a ditch to avoid a head on collision?