Morning fog clings to the vinyl stools
Geiger ticks slow like Sunday rules
Coffee pot steams through the wire mesh
Radium cream in a lead-lined dish
Click click goes the counter loud
Steel turns orange beneath the cloud
I pour grace in chipped ceramic cups
Half-life hymn when the daylight stops
Booth three holds a dosimeter badge
Faded photo a marriage pledge
She asks for toast dry crust no jam
Fingers shake like a seismogram
Click click goes the counter loud
Steel turns orange beneath the cloud
I pour grace in chipped ceramic cups
Half-life hymn when the daylight stops
Bridge hums low where the reactors sleep
Concrete ribs in the water deep
I wipe the counter count the clicks
Pencil lead on laminated strips
Choir voice rises from the throat
Latin verses on a sinking boat
Kyrie eleison christe eleison
Dust to dust and isotope
Click click goes the counter loud
Steel turns orange beneath the cloud
I pour grace in chipped ceramic cups
Half-life hymn when the daylight stops
Evening brings the purple glow
Dosimeters pulse in a steady row
I lock the door pull the shutter down
Most faithful servant in this town
Click click goes the counter loud
Steel turns orange beneath the cloud
I pour grace in chipped ceramic cups
Half-life hymn when the daylight stops
Click click click the needle sings
Half-life hymn the waitress brings
Click click click the needle sings
Amen in the Geiger rings