You wipe the counter at dawn shift
Coffee steam rises in thin lift
Apron stained with syrup rings
Diner hums with fluorescent wings
Shift bell chimes you pull your coat
Herengracht fog swallows your name
You walk the bridge just the same
Iron arches hold your weight
Winter waits at canal gate
Herengracht fog knows your name
Patrons left their ceramic cups
Lipstick marks on porcelain rims
You untie your worn-out shoes
Step into the grey-blue bruise
Cobblestones drink your quiet tread
Herengracht fog swallows your name
You walk the bridge just the same
Iron arches hold your weight
Winter waits at canal gate
Herengracht fog knows your name
Choir voice hums beneath your breath
Latin verses learned in depth
Ave Maria off-key now
Rings across the water's brow
Alto tone cuts through the mist
No hymn can calm this searching tide
No psalm explains the turning inside
You're not gone you're merely looking
For the face that stopped the cooking
Red scarf flashing once then gone
Railings cold against your palms
Barges groan through water alarms
A red scarf catches on the wind
Gone before you can begin
Lantern light swings slow and dim
Herengracht fog swallows your name
You walk the bridge just the same
Iron arches hold your weight
Winter waits at canal gate
Herengracht fog knows your name
Shift ends but you don't return
Let the diner's signboard burn
You become the bridge's song
Where you wait and wait too long
Fog rolls in you stand your ground
Herengracht fog swallows your name
You walk the bridge just the same
Iron arches hold your weight
Winter waits at canal gate
Herengracht fog knows your name
You walk the bridge just the same
Fog lifts slow over black water
You stay though the night is over
