Vacuum tubes glow amber warm
Dial needle shakes in palm
Logbook pages yellowed deep
Operator counts while others sleep
Headset cord coiled tight around wrist
Thermos steam rises through the mist
Each footfall logged in graphite gray
Another shift dissolves away
Signal through fog carries far
Footsteps counted like a star
Radio watches rail yard breathe
Static sings what eyes can't see
Boxcar numbers eaten clean
By fog that moves like gasoline
Switchman's lantern swings an arc
Red light bleeding through the dark
Rail joints click a steady code
Heavy boots on gravel road
Logbook fills with numbered lines
While dawn refuses to define
Signal through fog carries far
Footsteps counted like a star
Radio watches rail yard breathe
Static sings what eyes can't see
Signal lamps bleed red on steel
Fog turns wheels to spinning wheels
Operator's pencil dulls to nub
Counting steps in morning grub
Signal through fog carries far
Footsteps counted like a star
Radio watches rail yard breathe
Static sings what eyes can't see
Copper wire remembers touch
Fog don't care for much
Logbook snaps shut shift complete
Boots retreat on concrete street
Signal through fog carries far
Footsteps counted like a star
Radio watches rail yard breathe
Static sings what eyes can't see
Tubes cool slow when power dies
Fog lifts slow revealing skies
Last footstep logged in fading ink
Radio waits doesn't blink
Signal through fog carries far
Footsteps counted like a star
Radio watches rail yard breathe
Static sings what eyes can't see
Signal through fog carries far
Footsteps counted like a star
Static hums on copper wire
Fog swallows the yard whole