Rain slicks the avenue to black
Taxi idles engine slack
Twenty years on this same beat
Know the cracks in every street
Fare paid in coins and heavy sighs
Watch the depot through my eyes
Peeling paint on brick and steel
Time stands still on a spinning wheel
Last stop diner glowing red
Buzzing tube above my head
Rust eats the letters one by one
Same old song when day is done
Last stop diner burning slow
Only place the lost still go
Coffee thick as motor oil
Spoons that clink in porcelain soil
Counter stools hold heavy coats
Stories told in ringing notes
Waitress wipes a stainless ring
Doesn't ask a single thing
Pancakes steam on chipped white plate
Mercy served before the late
Last stop diner glowing red
Buzzing tube above my head
Rust eats the letters one by one
Same old song when day is done
Last stop diner burning slow
Only place the lost still go
Train whistle cuts the freezing air
No one waits for no one there
Tracks go north to warmer ground
But we just drive the circle round
Keys turn over diesel cough
Pull the lever pull it off
Neon flickers sputters dies
Morning breaks in pale disguise
Another shift another fare
Breathing in the depot air
Last stop diner glowing red
Buzzing tube above my head
Rust eats the letters one by one
Same old song when day is done
Last stop diner burning slow
Only place the lost still go
Last stop diner fading light
Guiding taxi home tonight
Meter drops the night is done
Wipers rest on glass