Track Insight / Lyrics
Sodium vapor hums above the pump island
Beam cuts dust where tires kiss the asphalt
I count steps like stomata on a leaf silent
Each passerby a species, distinct, vast
Footfall one, Artemisia in the crack
Footfall two, Quercus shadow walking back
Flashlight taxonomy, I name what I see
Crossroads census, tonight the watchman's key
Moths orbit light like pollinators drunk on pollen
Cigarette cherry glows, a dormant bud igniting
Root systems of cracks drink spilled gasoline, fallen
Taxonomy thrives where the concrete is blighting
Footfall one, Artemisia in the crack
Footfall two, Quercus shadow walking back
Flashlight taxonomy, I name what I see
Crossroads census, tonight the watchman's key
Logbook Latin, I whisper binomial names
To the weed in the curb, to the stranger's shadow
No peer review here, just neon and night claims
Patience is xylem, deep where the dark flows
Footfall one, Artemisia in the crack
Footfall two, Quercus shadow walking back
Flashlight taxonomy, I name what I see
Crossroads census, tonight the watchman's key
Double bass bows the night, low and resonant
Glockenspiel sprinkles notes like rare mineral dew
My flashlight's a phloem, transporting the evident
Life persists in the margins, stubborn and true
Dawn will chlorophyll the sky, green and cruel
But now I'm the keeper of nocturnal keys
Each footfall recorded, no specimen unruled
Taxonomy complete before the morning sees
Engine turns, the last tires sing their farewell
Beam sweeps empty, the census finally done
I pocket my lens, where the night shadows dwell
Until tomorrow's dark photosynthesis comes
Footfall one, Artemisia in the crack
Footfall two, Quercus shadow walking back
Flashlight taxonomy, I name what I see
Crossroads census, tonight the watchman's key
Flashlight clicks off. Specimen archived.
Night shift ends. Roots hold.
