Blueprint Mile

[Refrain]
I still take the blueprint mile past your mother's place, Lena.
Just to see if the studs are still holding up the empty space.

[Verse 1]
The gravel on County Road 5 sounds different after midnight.
My high-beams catch the cypress knees, pale in the dashboard light.
Got my left hand on the wheel, cold from a rip in the vinyl seal.
Just tracing the foundation lines, tryna remember how they used to feel.

[Verse 2]
Remember you said, "This porch is where we'll watch the storms roll in"?
August heat so thick you could smell the kudzu before the rain begins.
Now it's just a concrete slab and a stack of warped two-by-fours.
A silence out there loud as a thousand slammed doors.

[Bridge]
And every time, I tell myself it’s just a way to keep you close.
But I'm just driving circles 'round the ghost of a ghost.
My knuckles are white on the shifter knob.

[Outro]
The engine's ticking over, waiting for the turn I never make.
Still holding my breath for a frame that will not break.