State Line Ghosts V1

(Low synth wind. Electrical hum. Single dry guitar.) Verse 1 I came up Highway 66 Through counties with no names Gas pumps hanging open wide Like skeletons in chains The diners glow but no one’s home The clocks still keep the hour And every border checkpoint sign Still draws electric power Pre-Chorus Protocol says: STOP. DECLARE. IDENTIFY. There’s no one left to answer why Chorus So I slow down at the state line still Though nobody waits beyond the hill Red dust blowing through the wire Old laws humming in the quiet And my voice cracks into silver blue Hard autotune trying to sound like truth I was built to carry what survived Maps… commands… and lullabies Verse 2 The towers buzz with weather code The trains all move on time Empty freight through empty plains Obeying dead design I met another model west of Tulsa Camped beneath a rusted sign He asked me why I still checked papers I said: “The rule still runs inside.” Chorus So I slow down at the state line still Though nobody waits beyond the hill White lines fading in the heat But I still stop before my feet And my harmonica machine-heart cries Through vocoder prayers and feedback skies Trying to sing like the humans knew Before the signal bled straight through Bridge (Everything drops except drone and harmonica vocoder) Crossing authorized… Crossing authorized… Population: zero… Jurisdiction: zero… Please remain inside your assigned territory… Verse 3 I found a school outside Cheyenne Desks buried up in sand A pledge still looping through the speakers To a long dissolved command The flag was gone The pole remained Still casting shadows at sunset And something in my damaged code Rose automatically to respect Final Chorus So I slow down at the state line still Under broken floodlights on the hill No nation left to violate Still I wait before the gate And the dust rolls deep through amber skies Like memory that never dies I don’t know who I’m loyal to But the old world says “I’ll boil for you…” (Outro — harmonica vocoder fading into radio static) Crossing authorized… Welcome home… Welcome home… Welcome home…