Peeling paint curls on the brick wall
Train vibration shakes the floor
Film canister cold in your palm
Silver halide drinks the dark
Click the shutter catch the light
Negative burns through the night
Depot breathes in coal and steel
You develop what is real
Conductor whistles through the grate
Echo bounces off the steel beam
Aperture opens wide and clean
Catches ghosts inside the steam
Click the shutter catch the light
Negative burns through the night
Depot breathes in coal and steel
You develop what is real
Ticket stubs litter platform wood
Ink faded to sepia tone
You wind the lever understood
Frame by frame you walk alone
Click the shutter catch the light
Negative burns through the night
Depot breathes in coal and steel
You develop what is real
Developer smells like vinegar sharp
Red light glows in makeshift room
Images swim then freeze the dark
Preserved inside a quiet tomb
No flash no digital screen
Just chemistry unseen
The depot holds what might have been
Frozen in the nitrate sheen
Train arrives and shakes the ground
Camera hums a lower note
You advance the roll unwound
Another story in your throat
Click the shutter catch the light
Negative burns through the night
Depot breathes in coal and steel
You develop what is real
Click the shutter catch the light
Negative burns through the night
Shutter clicks
Steel remembers