Old pine needles on the clay
The summer heat has gone away
I walk the line where fences end
Around the river's rocky bend
The telephone poles stand in a row
Watching the heavy river flow
I hold the lamp up to the black
Waiting for you to wander back
Follow the yellow beam of light
Cutting a hole through the velvet night
One steady pulse and a sudden glow
Watching the lonely current flow
The glass is cracked along the rim
The battery power's growing slim
I see your boots in the salted grass
Waiting for the midnight hour to pass
The telephone poles stand in a row
Watching the heavy river flow
I hold the lamp up to the black
Waiting for you to wander back
Follow the yellow beam of light
Cutting a hole through the velvet night
One steady pulse and a sudden glow
Watching the lonely current flow
I spent my years on the granite tower
Counting the wind and the rainy hour
Now I am walking the forest floor
Looking for what I had before
The copper wire hums a low tune
Under a heavy white wax moon
I swing the torch in a wide arc
Tracing a path through the heavy dark
Follow the yellow beam of light
Cutting a hole through the velvet night
One steady pulse and a sudden glow
Watching the lonely current flow
You stand there still by the cedar tree
Looking back home and looking at me
We leave the poles and the wire behind
Leaving the restless world to unwind
Follow the yellow beam of light
Cutting a hole through the velvet night
One steady pulse and a sudden glow
Watching the lonely current flow
Just a yellow beam. Walking home slow.
The yellow beam.
