Source Decay

Once a week

I make the drive

Two hours east

To check the austin post office box

And I take the detour

Through our old neighborhood

See all the chevy impalas

In their front yards up on blocks

And I park in an alley

And I read through the post cards you continue to send

Where as indirectly as you can

You ask what I remember

I like these tortured deviced from my old best friend

Well I'll tell you what I know

Like I swore I always would

I don't think it will do you any good

I remember the train headed south out of bangkok

Down toward the water

I always get a late start

When the Sun's going down

And the traffic's filling out

And the glare is hard to take

I wish the west Texas highway was a mobius strip

I could ride it out for ever

When I feel my heart break

I almost swear I hear it happen

It's that clear and that hard

I come in off the highway and I park in my front yard

Fall out of the car

Like a hostage from a plane

Think of you awhile

Start wishing it would rain

And I remember the train heading south out of bangkok

Down, down towards, the water

Come in to the house

Put on a pot of coffee

Walk the floors a little while

Set your postcard on the table

With all the others like it

Start sorting threw the pile

Check the pictures

And the postmarks

And the captions

And the stamps

For a sign of any pattern at all

When I come up empty handed

The feeling almost overwhelms me

I let a few of my defenses fall

And I smile a bitter smile

It is not a pretty sight to see

I think about a railroad platform back in 1983

And I remember the train heading south out of Bangkok

Down, down towards, the water