Parking Lot Receipt

Parking Lot Receipt
Parking Lot Receipt

Parking Lot Receipt, one line from another life
Parking Lot Receipt, folded under all those nights
I kept the paper longer than the promise
Parking Lot Receipt, today I finally toss it

Supermarket bag on the passenger floor
Moving boxes in the back
Receipt curled under the old front seat
From a night we thought would last
Two coffees, paper towels, cheap red wine
Ordinary future in black ink
Funny how a little list of nothing
Can make a whole car hard to sit in

I kept the paper
Long after I let you go

Parking Lot Receipt, one line from another life
Parking Lot Receipt, folded under all those nights
I kept the paper longer than the promise
Parking Lot Receipt, today I finally toss it

Weeks later, somebody rides beside me
Finds it when they move the seat
Asks if I need this old receipt
I say no before my heart can speak
They drop it in the cup-holder trash
No thunder, no cinematic scene
I watch the paper disappear
And realize how small goodbye can be

I thought throwing it away
Would feel like throwing you away too
I kept the paper longer than the promise
That receipt caught under the seat kept the truth

Parking Lot Receipt, gone under coffee cups
Parking Lot Receipt, no need to pick it up
I kept the paper longer than the promise
Parking Lot Receipt, now it's just paper

Parking Lot Receipt