The sign buzzes pink through wire-mesh glass
Card catalog drawers stick fast
Transformer hum shakes the reading pass
Fluorescent tubes paint the shadows cast
Neon psalm in a basement pew
Humming harmony with soup du jour
Altos rise in vinyl booths anew
Steam and silence share the floor
Vinyl cracked where elbows wore the seams
Dewey decimals sleep in rows
Ketchup packets catch the pink light beams
Archival gloves fold, compose
Neon psalm in a basement pew
Humming harmony with soup du jour
Altos rise in vinyl booths anew
Steam and silence share the floor
Latin mass rolls off my tongue at dawn
Ave verum corpus, bacon, rye
Incense swapped for grease withdrawn
Sanctus rings in microwave chime
Neon psalm in a basement pew
Humming harmony with soup du jour
Altos rise in vinyl booths anew
Steam and silence share the floor
The archivist brings coffee in a mug
Chipped ceramic, library seal
We trade verses from a different drug
Hymnals wrapped in acetate peel
Neon psalm in a basement pew
Humming harmony with soup du jour
Altos rise in vinyl booths anew
Steam and silence share the floor
Last chorus swells through card catalog doors
Two voices lift where none sang before
