Yellow paint flakes on concrete floor
Checkerboard roof sees sun no more
Dispatch radio caught cobweb threads
Static hums where voices led
He rusts slow behind the card catalog
Wiper blades stuck on a final jog
No passenger asks for Main and Third
Just microfilm and dusty word
Taximeter frozen at three-fifty
Receipt printer spits out empty
Steering wheel wears his thumb-print grooves
Leather cracked where memory moves
He rusts slow behind the card catalog
Wiper blades stuck on a final jog
No passenger asks for Main and Third
Just microfilm and dusty word
Rain drummed roof on midnight runs
Now condensation weighs in tons
He knew each pothole by its name
Now alphabet cards play his game
He rusts slow behind the card catalog
Wiper blades stuck on a final jog
No passenger asks for Main and Third
Just microfilm and dusty word
Brass fare box holds library fines
Clock hands stuck on between-lines
Air freshener pine long since faded
Dewey Decimal routes he graded
Engine block serves as a shelf
For volumes no one reads themselves
He nods at scholars passing by
Meter off he winks no lie
Tires sink slow in linoleum
Hubcaps catch the reading hum
He waits a fare that never comes
Filing stories filing thumbs
He rusts slow behind the card catalog
Wiper blades stuck on a final jog
No passenger asks for Main and Third
Just microfilm and dusty word
One last ride when the archive closes
Keys turn over where the engine dozes
Meter clicks in silent rows
Quiet meter nobody knows
