Trolley Car

It's a snowy night

The cops shut down the freeway

Big men in plows are out carving up the streets

Below them

Jammed on a subway

I'm with two hundred over dressed strangers

Brushing snow off coats and shoulders

Kicking snow off dress shoe feet

You live six miles down this trolley car's trail

Up above the red line

Where the street musicians wail

Where Baby

We used to chase down coffee

On the sidewalk take in tunes

We'd drink in the waning hours

Till we polished off the moon

Who knew the moon would fail

Above the trolley car trail

Park Street

Next station

Says a voice with an accent I've heard

And I see shoppers on the platform

Where green and red lines diverge

I fight my way through the packages and the bows

To a pay phone

The operator knows

She says to me

Your nervousness shows

I say

'Nervous' is too kind a word

I think snowfall should be measured

By how much it takes a city by surprise

By how far back old timers go to remember

The last time a blizzard stung their eyes

Last time I rode a subway

You had summer in your eyes

You did

Your phone rings

But it only brings your voice

On a message machine

I'm not here

The tape is clear

Me

I'm off the hook it seems

I called I say

To say 'hello'

To coax you out where the snowmen grow

But you're not home

And hey

I gotta go

It was good to hear your voice