Right-of-Way

[Verse 1]
The Girard trolley hums its usual C sharp past midnight.
I'm tracing this silver fault line in the bathroom light.
A story I practice, a playful little test,
For the hands I'm about to let wander across my chest.

[Chorus]
Gonna tell you it's a piece of the Black River's edge,
A little shiver from a high-steel factory ledge.
Just a blueprint scar, a story for your hands.
Gonna see if you're a man who understands.

[Interlude]
(A warped, distant voice from an old recording, like a voicemail)
"Now, Phyllis, you watch yourself on that breakwater. Don't you come runnin' to me when you fall..."

[Verse 2]
Picking out the shirt with the neckline cut down low,
A little demolition, just for the show.
"Bet you've never been to Ohio," I'll start to say,
Then let my finger guide you down the old right-of-way.

[Chorus]
Gonna tell you it's a piece of the Black River's edge,
A little shiver from a high-steel factory ledge.
Just a blueprint scar, a story for your hands.
Gonna see if you're a man who understands.

[Bridge]
Lord, let this foundation hold tonight.
Let him see the beauty here, not the blight.
A hairline fracture, but the structure's true.

[Outro]
Hear that freight train on the Schuylkill trestle...
He's three blocks away. I can feel the rumble.