Meter clicks down on the wet black top
Anchor drags heavy refusing to drop
Fare is paid but the night stays long
Compass spins where the west winds belong
Concrete pillars cast long shadows here
Mast light gone but the danger near
Steel ribs groan under winter weight
Hull lists hard against the strait
Salt and asphalt under boots worn thin
Where the highway meets the tide coming in
Knots come loose on a rusted pin
Salt and asphalt worn out within
Dispatch radio cracks static code
Fog horn moans on the shipping road
Turn the wheel where the overpass looms
Steer by stars in the engine rooms
Concrete pillars cast long shadows here
Mast light gone but the danger near
Steel ribs groan under winter weight
Hull lists hard against the strait
Salt and asphalt under boots worn thin
Where the highway meets the tide coming in
Knots come loose on a rusted pin
Salt and asphalt worn out within
Coffee cold in a cracked ceramic cup
Grog gone sour in a tin plate sup
Retirement papers flapping in the gust
Discharge stamped on a deckhand's trust
Hands that spliced three-strand Manila line
Now grip a wheel in the fluorescent shine
No horizon left to chase or find
Just guardrails biting the cliff edge blind
Salt and asphalt under boots worn thin
Where the highway meets the tide coming in
Knots come loose on a rusted pin
Salt and asphalt worn out within
Shift ends slow at the depot gate
Watch stands down seal the heavy grate
Dreams of blue water cold and deep
Sleep walks hard on the pavement
