Nonconforming Use

[Verse 1]
The Number Six tram on Prospekt Lenina, last week of ice.
The hiss of the doors on the 23:40, it happens twice.
I see your reflection in the glass by the driver's seat,
a ghost on the city grid, a variance, incomplete.

[Chorus]
On the master plan, a penciled-in line.
You're a nonconforming use, a break in the design.
On the master plan, a temporary sign.
You're a nonconforming use of mine.

[Verse 2]
I saw the demolition notice taped to your apartment block.
The burn of the chrome pole against your palm, a static shock.
"It's just a draft," you said, breath fogging up the cold,
"A preliminary survey." A story I wasn't told.

[Bridge]
The whole damn city breathes, a circuit board in snow.
And every lighted window is a place a soul could go.

[Chorus]
On the master plan, a penciled-in line.
You're a nonconforming use, a break in the design.
On the master plan, a temporary sign.
You're a nonconforming use of mine.

[Outro]
A penciled-in line...
A break in the design.