Track Insight / Lyrics
**(vinyl crackle, 72 rpm, banjo in slow 3/4, no drums until the final line)**
A I count the Zostera strands
where your fender scrapes the mud
B: You're still painting at five, red on the starboard rail.
A The Spartina roots do not rush
they hold what the tide gives them
B: Your propeller turned the whole shoal to brown for three weeks.
[Pre-
A: Patience is the *Salicornia* trick—wait for the salt to settle.
B: I have the diesel log and a thermos going cold.
A Every root I have pressed
is a small negotiation with the ground
B: You will shove that barge by seven, and the water will clear.
A: Red hull, slow turn, the *Posidonia* fronds swing wide.
B You do not need to be
fast when the channel is still and deep
A: I will note the silt line where your wash has been all winter.
B: Five a.m., and the harbor is just a smell of rust and kelp.
*(spoken, no melody, banjo muted between phrases)*
A You see I talk to the
Spartina the way your mechanic turns the wrench
B: And I talk to you the same way, mate, you just do not talk back.
A: The *Zostera* does not argue with the current. Neither do I.
B: Just sit in the mud, red paint flaking, and hold your position.
[Final-
A: The *Posidonia* will regrow by August, and you will be gone.
B: I will log the fender mark on page twelve, diesel-stained.
A: I press your shadow in the mud where no one's going to look.
B: Six a.m. now. The gulls are loud. You are not leaving yet.
