Grease pops hot on seasoned grill steel
Blue line fades on cellulose decay
Eggs flip clean with wrist flick appeal
Red route frays where sunlight hits the day
Order up table three needs hash browns
Transfer point at Central stays unfound
Bell dings sharp through cigarette smoke haze
Folded lines hold yesteryear's maze
Paper tracks lie buried in the weeds
Paper tracks remember what the city needs
Paper tracks don't care for time or tide
Paper tracks keep secrets deep inside
Regular Joe takes his coffee black
Green line snakes through parks that don't exist
Tells a joke about the midnight track
Station names get swallowed by the mist
Spatula scrapes the carbon from the pan
Ink bleeds out where transfer points began
Night shift ends at five AM sharp
Map stays pinned beneath a metal harp
Paper tracks lie buried in the weeds
Paper tracks remember what the city needs
Paper tracks don't care for time or tide
Paper tracks keep secrets deep inside
Rain taps hard on diner roof tin
Orange line dissolves in damp and rot
Dishes clatter where the night begins
Forgotten stops are all the map has got
Workshop door swings shut on oiled hinge
Creased paper breathes in morning dew
Cook hangs up his towel on the fringe
Routes live on though trains are broken too
Paper tracks lie buried in the weeds
Paper tracks remember what the city needs
Paper tracks don't care for time or tide
Paper tracks keep secrets deep inside
Sunrise paints the counter chrome gold
Yellow line ends at a broken fence
Story told and story retold
Map outlasts the city's false pretense
Paper tracks lie buried in the weeds
Paper tracks remember what the city needs
Paper tracks don't care for time or tide
Paper tracks keep secrets deep inside
Paper tracks lie buried in the weeds
Folded corners catch the morning light
Paper tracks ride on through the night