THE LIGHTS STAY ON

The lights stay on when the night comes down
The lights stay on for the next one now
We built more than a name on stone
When we leave this room, the lights stay on

Last car gone from the gravel lot
Cleaning crew left, but the hallway's not
One lamp burning by the eastern door
Same kind of light I once prayed for
Walked past desks with the chairs pushed in
Names on the wall where mine had been
Old shoebox safe in a bottom drawer
Blue bus pass and the note from before
Fuel-light memory, red-ink square
Cold-room winter still lives in there
Every hard object became one key
Every closed door taught the hinge to me

No one watching
No applause
Still we build
Because it lasts

The lights stay on when the night comes down
The lights stay on for the next one now
We built more than a name on stone
When we leave this room, the lights stay on

Young guard studying behind the desk
Mother in night class taking a test
Boy in the studio counting his bars
Woman upstairs putting funds in jars
None of them know every road that led
Every borrowed dollar, every hour unfed
Good — let the struggle lose its fame
Let them inherit the door, not the pain
I used to want every face turned mine
Now I want systems that outlive time
Made them watch was the spark at dawn
But the greater win is the lights stay on

I wanted witnesses.
Then I wanted victory.
Now I want something quieter:
A room
I never have to rescue again.

The lights stay on when the night comes down
The lights stay on — pass the keys around
We built more than a name on stone
Long after us, the lights stay on

For the late shift
For the first try
For the child drawing doors in yellow light
For the next one
Coming home

Leave them on.