Because It Kept You Asleep

The sodium lamps are burning out of line
Your temple pressed against the trembling glass
The wipers trace a fan of salted dust
I watch the silver highway markers pass
And every green sign promises an end
I took an oath to never comprehend

Your winter coat is pulled across your chest
You didn't ask how many miles were left
You merely folded down into your seat
As if the silence were an act of theft
My knuckles white against the steering wheel
Denying everything we came to feel

Two miles before the toll gate takes my cash
And all this quiet turns to road and ash

I should have touched your wrist at three a.m
Back at the depot where the gravel ends
We drank bitter coffee from the paper cups
Careful to call each other only friends
Afraid that if we spoke about the town
The sky we carried would come crashing down

I loved the road because it kept you asleep
I loved the promises we couldn't keep
Before the yellow turns the skyline grey
Before you wake and look the other way

The concrete barriers are drawing near
The slip road widens to a five-lane stall
Your breathing catches as the brakes apply
The engine whispers down to nothing at all
The ticket scanner flashes amber bright
And kills the final remnant of the night

I loved the road because it kept you asleep
I loved the promises we couldn't keep
Before the yellow turns the skyline grey
Before you wake and look the other way

I loved the road because it kept you asleep
I loved the promises we couldn't keep
Before the yellow turns the skyline grey
Before you wake and look the other way