Depot paint peels like old sunburn
Repairman boots rest on the curb
Coil of cable loops his belt
Coffee thermos keeps its melt
Wires hum above the track
He don't speak and he don't look back
Pliers tucked in canvas fold
Stories that the lines have told
Line down and the world goes quiet
Static fades on copper wire
Nothing broken nothing dire
Just a man retired from fire
Morning train shakes window glass
He don't flinch he lets it pass
Thirty years of climbing poles
Written in his callused soles
Line down and the world goes quiet
Static fades on copper wire
Nothing broken nothing dire
Just a man retired from fire
Bell rings loud at five AM
Diner grill spits grease again
But out here the air stays sweet
Where the rail and wire meet
Foreman calls on radio
He picks up and says hello
Section four is holding clear
Voice is steady voice is near
Thermos empty boots lace tight
Fades into the morning light
Depot paint keeps peeling slow
Only place he lets it go
Line down and the world goes quiet
Static fades on copper wire
Nothing broken nothing dire
Just a man retired from fire
Cooling coffee on the sill
Line down standing still
