First Bus Home

The night's last question
One more song, or the first bus home?

The floor has thinned to the faithful —
The twenty of us who mean it
Dancing in the bigger spaces
The leavers left behind
Outside the sky's gone the colour
Of the inside of a shell
And the first bus rolls at six-fifteen
From the stop across the road
So we do the maths of joy
Four more songs if we run for it
Three if the DJ's feeling generous
And he is — you can tell by the piano

Coats on backwards, laces loose
One eye on the window's glow
The night is ending like a psalm does —
Quieter, and more true

First bus home!
(Six-fifteen)
Danced until the timetable said when
Rode the top deck glowing like a lantern —
First bus home again

Top deck
(Front seats)
Still humming

The driver's seen a thousand of us —
Glitter, sleeves, triumphant ruins —
He nods us on like a ferryman
Who happens to take contactless
Six of us up top, still humming
Watching the city rinse to gold
Trading the names of the songs we survived
Sharing one bag of chips like communion
The window's cold against my head
Best pillow in the city
The driver takes the long bridge slowly
I think he does it on purpose. Thank you, sir
I think he does it on purpose. Thank you, sir

Coats on backwards, laces loose
Sunrise climbing up the glass
The night is ending like a psalm does —
Quieter, and more true

First bus home!
(Six-fifteen)
Danced until the timetable said when

Rode the top deck glowing like a lantern —
First bus home again

Passengers: radiant
Chips: shared
The streetlights click off one by one
Like the city turning down its collar
A cup of tea waits at the end of this route
The window hums the last chorus with me

There's a version of tonight
Where I left at twelve, sensible
And I'll never meet her, and that's fine —
She didn't see the sky do this
She didn't hear a top deck hum
Some blessings only run at dawn

First bus home!
(Six-fifteen)
The whole top deck still carrying the beat
City turning gold at every stop —
First bus home again

Still humming

First bus home!

First bus home!

(Still humming)
First bus home