City By Dawn

rain fell hard
chalk it up to a failure.
push through the cold weather.
racing heart,
slow the beat,
push through the defeat.
no one knows,
just push through the deadbeats,
junkies, liars and cutthroats.
the same walk, the same pier.
no one's going to remember him here.
"just walk until you reach those long steel tracks."
that old familiar sting, the memories of rivalry.
years passed and it's still here.
the same dirt, same rails, same fear.
and all the years of giving in rushed through his head again.
with no loss to match his gain,
he rolled on to hop that train.
rain fell hard.
chalk the miles from his failure.
trees sway with the weather.
racing heart, skips a beat.
every crossed town line is relief.
with no money and no name,
state lines, borders rivers are all the same.
the city by dawn, a stranger with no history comes.
"just rest your head where the sun sets.
fade out at sun down.
fade out at sun down.
well fade out."