You count the rivets on the railing
The river breathes in copper light
Your boots know every worn patch failing
The gangway groans through dying night
Steel hums beneath your palm
Summer pulls the current long
You've memorized the calm
Iron summer holds its breath
You watch the water mark the depth
Each ferry cuts a silver path
You're the keeper of the math
The paint peels slow in salted layers
A gull cries out past pier three
You track the schedule no saviors
Just timetables tide and me
Steel hums beneath your palm
Summer pulls the current long
You've memorized the calm
Iron summer holds its breath
You watch the water mark the depth
Each ferry cuts a silver path
You're the keeper of the math
The radio crackles static weather
A captain shouts in Dutch or Greek
