Coffee rings stain the Formica night
Regulars order the same eggs twice
Grease sings soft on the flattop steel
I flip dreams with a spatula heel
Sand slips through the screen door mesh
Tuning fork strikes cold flesh
High desert wire holds the note
Pin block groans in the stove's warm glow
Hammer falls on the rusted string
Veranda sings what the night won't bring
Action deepens with each dry day
Sand wears felt in a quiet way
Motel sign buzzes neon blue
Santa Fe sleeps, I tune it true
Sand slips through the screen door mesh
Tuning fork strikes cold flesh
High desert wire holds the note
Pin block groans in the stove's warm glow
Hammer falls on the rusted string
Veranda sings what the night won't bring
Pie case holds a cherry crown
Truckers pass through this border town
Radio plays a Haggard tune
Veranda hums beneath the moon
Brass breathes low through Leslie spin
Where the tuner ends, the cook begins
Two hands know what wood remembers
Night shift ends on dying embers
High desert wire holds the note
Pin block groans in the stove's warm glow
Hammer falls on the rusted string
Veranda sings what the night won't bring
Dawn paints shadows on the keys
Regulars wake to coffee steam
Last pin seated, the octave clean
Veranda holds what night has seen
High desert wire holds the note
Pin block groans in the stove's warm glow
Hammer falls on the rusted string
Veranda sings what the night won't bring
High desert wire holds the note
Gibson fades on the final chord
Sand covers what the night ignored