Grease pops hot on the seasoned grill
Night shift settles in deep and still
Two eggs over on a chipped white plate
Hash browns crisp while the dawn grows late
Bell dings sharp for table number three
Regular smiles says it's on the house free
Paper folds toward Santa Fe
Subway ink stains the desert clay
No train runs where the piñon grows
Wrong coast map where the hot wind blows
Wrong coast map where the hot wind blows
Plastic laminate cracks in dry heat
Route forty-two ends at a dead-end street
Tokens rust in a mason jar lid
No turnstiles where the mesquite hid
Conductor's voice just static in the air
Veranda chair rocks empty no one there
Bacon curling like a question mark
Dawn light paints the parking lot pitch dark
Pie slice waits for the graveyard crew
Steam fogs the window obscuring view
Ketchup bottle stuck on number nine
Short joke lands right on the counter line
Paper folds toward Santa Fe
Subway ink stains the desert clay
No train runs where the piñon grows
Wrong coast map where the hot wind blows
Wrong coast map where the hot wind blows
Vinyl booth holds the shape of ghosts
Ketchup stain on a laminated coast
Fingers trace the Lexington line
Sand covers where the tracks would shine
Fingers trace the Lexington line
Sand covers where the tracks would shine
Nineteen eighty-two ink fades to tan
Express local neither has a plan
Plastic booth cracks where the elbow rests
Map shows tunnels the desert contests
Coffee ring marks the transfer point
Dust settles deep in the joint
Paper folds toward Santa Fe
Subway ink stains the desert clay
No train runs where the piñon grows
Wrong coast map where the hot wind blows
Wrong coast map where the hot wind blows
Wrong coast map where the hot wind blows
Coffee cold map folded in my coat
Night shift ends where the desert wrote