Red flakes bloom on riveted sides
Salt air writes where paint has died
I carry wheat and winter grain
Through midnight dark and morning rain
My axles hum a low alto line
A hymn half-remembered yours and mine
I listen up from tracks below
Where coastal cars and headlights glow
My rust becomes a ringing bell
That sings the tide and knows it well
The overpass preaches loud and long
I answer with a metal song
Boxcar doors seal tight the night
Where dust and chaff find purchase light
I feel the bridge vibrate above
A sermon made of speed and love
My brake shoes hold a fermata's weight
While traffic sings its bright estate
I listen up from tracks below
Where coastal cars and headlights glow
My rust becomes a ringing bell
That sings the tide and knows it well
The overpass preaches loud and long
I answer with a metal song
Gulls argue on the guardrail wire
Their cries ascend like chapel choir
I read the psalms in corrosion's script
Where ocean spray has kissed and gripped
No organ here no stained glass light
Just piston breath and rails at night
I listen up from tracks below
Where coastal cars and headlights glow
My rust becomes a ringing bell
That sings the tide and knows it well
The overpass preaches loud and long
I answer with a metal song
The manifest lists soy and steel
But I carry what the wheels reveal
A congregation made of sound
Tire hymns on asphalt ground
I am the bass in this refrain
The low note that sustains the chain
I listen up from tracks below
Where coastal cars and headlights glow
My rust becomes a ringing bell
That sings the tide and knows it well
The overpass preaches loud and long
I answer with a metal song
Salt and iron salt and iron
