The file lay open By the coffee cup Old photographs and Names I knew I read the lines Then read them once more Trying to see The whole thing through I wrote the plan In careful strokes Kept it plain And kept it tight Then checked the gear I'd carried for years And watched the day Give way to night One more night On watch One more night From home One more quiet stretch With the dark alone I've spent a lifetime Reading silence Waiting on a call That never came Now the years are closing In behind me And the road ahead Is hard to see But the badge still Rides beside me For one more night On watch I drove out where The town lights faded Past the last Place pouring coffee Settle in beneath A patient sky Where time moves slow And nobody sees Hours rolled by like An old freight train The radio low The windows black I gathered what The night would give me And held the rest Inside my pack One more night On watch One more night From home One more quiet stretch With the dark alone I've spent a lifetime Reading silence Waiting on a call That never came Now the years are closing In behind me And the road ahead Is hard to see But the badge still Rides beside me For one more night On watch At last I turned Away from the darkness With the first gray light Against the glass I've watched the nights Roll through windshields Seen the young men Take their place I've carried names I never speak of And learned the weight Time leaves on a face Another page closed In the case file Soon I'll hang the badge up For the last time Let the road go On without me But tonight I'm still The one on watch Still doing what I came to do One more night On watch One more night From home One more quiet stretch With the dark alone I've spent a lifetime Reading silence Waiting on a call That never came And the years are Closing in behind me But I know what this Work asked of me So I'll wear the badge A little longer For one more night On watch Rinse wash and repeat Till the last day comes Then leave the long road To the dawn One more night on watch Then I'll be gone
