Coat collar turned against the salt wind bite
Screen ribs show white against the pale night
Radio coughs a harbor warning code
Engine idles on the gravel road
Drive-in dawn comes creeping slow
Trench coat heavy with the undertow
No badge tonight just salt and glass
Waiting for the final reel to pass
Speaker posts stand like buoys in fog
Projection booth a lighthouse log
Case file folded deep in coat pocket
Tide turns slow but doesn't stop it
Fence wire hums with gull wing cries
Concrete slab where tire tracks lie
Kerosene lantern on the hood
Maps the dark like something good
Drive-in dawn comes creeping slow
Trench coat heavy with the undertow
No badge tonight just salt and glass
Waiting for the final reel to pass
Fog horn blows from harbor mouth
Steals the breath from north to south
Light sweeps once then sweeps again
Keeper knows the price of wind
First pale strip tears the horizon seam
Projector ghost dies in the beam
Coat comes off the salt stain stays
Another watch concludes its days
Drive-in dawn comes creeping slow
Trench coat heavy with the undertow
No badge tonight just salt and glass
Waiting for the final reel to pass
Lamp trimmed clean for one more night
Sea writes dark in morning light
