Grease pops on the flat top grill
Paper bleeds behind iron bars
Regulars want eggs over light
Ink runs slow like summer tar
Bell dings sharp through cigarette haze
Words dissolve to rust and stars
Coffee stains the order pad
Envelope swells with dusk rain
Truckers laugh at jokes I've had
Glue gives up its final strain
Neon flickers buzzes low
Secrets rust where none remain
Iron dusk holds the letter tight
Summer rain eats the words we wrote
Fire escape guards the night
Promises sink like stones in throat
Rust reads better than we know
Bacon curls in pork fat crown
Address fades on dampened cream
Waitress wipes the counter down
Sender's name lost in the seam
Pie cools slow on wooden shelf
Summer dusk becomes a dream
Iron dusk holds the letter tight
Summer rain eats the words we wrote
Fire escape guards the night
Promises sink like stones in throat
Rust reads better than we know
I know the hand that wrote each line
I know the lips that sealed the flap
Twenty years on midnight shift
Still waiting for the trap to snap
Some letters never reach their mark
Some fires never catch a spark
Hash browns crisp in seasoned steel
Parchment flakes to orange dust
Night shift ends but nothing's real
Trust dissolves to iron rust
Keys hang heavy on my belt
Letter surrenders what it felt
Dawn breaks gray on vinyl stools
Fire escape wears crown of red
Cooking oil in cooling pools
Every word the weather read
Apron comes off shift is done
Message lost but somehow won
Iron dusk holds the letter tight
Summer rain eats the words we wrote
Fire escape guards the night
Promises sink like stones in throat
Rust reads better than we know
Iron dusk holds the letter tight
Summer rain eats the words we wrote
Fire escape guards the night
Promises sink like stones in throat
Rust reads better than we know
Iron dusk won't let it go
Rain stops griddle cools
Letter's gone coffee rules
