9th & Hennepin

Well it’s 9th and Hennepin
And all the donuts have
Names that sound like prostitutes
And the moon’s teeth marks are
On the sky like a tarp thrown over all this
And the broken umbrellas like
Dead birds and the steam
Comes out of the grill like
The whole goddamned town is ready to blow
And the bricks are all scarred with jailhouse tattoos
And everyone is behaving like dogs
And the horses are coming down Violin Road
And Dutch is dead on his feet
And the rooms all smell like diesel
And you take on the
Dreams of the ones who have slept here
And I’m lost in the window
I hide on the stairway
I hang in the curtain
I sleep in your hat
And no one brings anything
Small into a bar around here
They all started out with bad directions
And the girl behind the counter has a tattooed tear
One for every year he’s away she said
Such a crumbling beauty, but there’s
Well, nothing wrong with her that
$ 100 won’t fix
She has that razor sadness
That only gets worse
With the clang and the thunder
Of the Southern Pacific going by
As the clock ticks out like a dripping faucet
Till you’re full of rag water and bitters and blue ruin
And you spill out
Over the side to anyone who’ll listen
And I’ve seen it
All through the yellow windows
Of the evening train