A Discounted Fare

 

I have forty dollars to my name
and a death wish so I guess
Tonight I’m going your way
and when tomorrow comes with the rising sun
You’ll turn to me with a turbid grin and say
Young man it’s time for you to pay

 

but I’ll beg we go further

An acrylic cross dances on the dash
with a humbling crack on its glorious back
stretching with each bump in the road
You leave it there as if you don’t care
Peer in the mirror at me and declare
It’s time for me to pay my fare

But I’ll beg we go a little further

A leather seat stained with shame
I reek of that smell just the same
You tried to fix it, to stitch it back up
but the faded patch work’s still falling off
As the numbers tick, you’re beginning to feel
So you keep driving with your hands on that wheel

But I’ll beg we go just a little bit further

I ask aloud who are you who moves us forward
Behind your plexi-glass plate a faceless coward
With a foot driving me endlessly towards my fate
I bang on your shield to tell you it’s not too late
We can keep going straight into the unknown
Turn off the meter forever and no one will know

This is my stop, how much do I owe you?