Salt crust flakes from knuckled grip
Lantern oil smells rain on slate
Sixty turns to face the Seine
Iron lung breathes cold and straight
Footsteps fall like tide on shingle
Brass tube drinks the amber glow
Paris roofs wear widow's shawls
Keeper counts the ones who go
Red scarf flashes past the chestnut
Cobbles drink the heel and cane
Wine breath rises from the bistro
Lens catches what eyes can't name
Footsteps fall like tide on shingle
Brass tube drinks the amber glow
Paris roofs wear widow's shawls
Keeper counts the ones who go
Storm glass drops in tower room
Fog horns bleed through chimney pots
Two shadows pause at balcony rail
Match strike flares and then it stops
Footsteps fall like tide on shingle
Brass tube drinks the amber glow
Paris roofs wear widow's shawls
Keeper counts the ones who go
No logbook holds these passages
No fog bell marks their slow return
Only brass and bone remember
How the dark learns how to burn
Dawn peels paint from dormer windows
Last pair climbs the winding stair
Telescope caps its glass eye shut
Salt air sleeps on wooden chair
Footsteps fall like tide on shingle
Brass tube drinks the amber glow
Paris roofs wear widow's shawls
Keeper counts the ones who go
Footsteps fall like tide on shingle
Brass tube drinks the amber glow
Paris roofs wear widow's shawls
Keeper counts the ones who go
Lens cap clicks. The count is done.
Tide turns gray on zinc and stone.