Pilot checks his gauge again
Thruster hums a low refrain
Dock planks know the routine well
Dawn breaks like a cracked shell
Tide pulls at the mooring chain
Engine coughs then clears its throat
No passenger signs the book today
Just the dock and its quiet note
Cold slip waits for wheels that won't roll
Meter's dead on a dead man's toll
Pilot watches pressure climb
Dawn won't wait for borrowed time
Rust streaks bleed down steel ribs
Barnacles guard their calcium crypts
Radio static scrapes the air
No fare called from the pier
Tide pulls at the mooring chain
Engine coughs then clears its throat
No passenger signs the book today
Just the dock and its quiet note
Cold slip waits for wheels that won't roll
Meter's dead on a dead man's toll
Pilot watches pressure climb
Dawn won't wait for borrowed time
Fog lifts slow as hospital sheets
Revealing water gray and deep
Pilot's hands are steady old
Knowing what the gauges hold
Weather turns on a dime's thin edge
Veteran knows each rocky ledge
Every crossing writes its fee
Paid in salt and memory
Cold slip waits for wheels that won't roll
Meter's dead on a dead man's toll
Pilot watches pressure climb
Dawn won't wait for borrowed time
Thrusters finally bite the surge
Wake cuts clean the mirrored urge
Dock exhales as lines go slack
Another day keeps coming back
Cold slip waits for wheels that won't roll
Meter's dead on a dead man's toll
Pilot watches pressure climb
Dawn won't wait for borrowed time
Wood settles water still
Morning takes the final bill
