Vienna teng
homecoming
it s desert ice outside but this diner has thawed my ears
hot coffee in a clean white mug and a smile when the waitress hears
that I was born in North Carolina
not an hour from her home town
and we used to play the same pizza parlor pinball
and there s a glance in time suspended as I wonder how it is
we ve been swept up just by circumstance to where the coyote lives
where my days are strips of highway
and she s wiping tables down
holding on and still waiting for that windfall
but I ve come home
even though I ve never had so far to go
I ve come home
I pay the check and leave the change from a crumpled ten-dollar bill
head across the street where VACANCY is burning in neon still
well the night eats up my body heat
and there s no sign of another
and I find myself slipping down into that black
but things are good I ve got a lot of follow
