Proof-Stones

*After Tom Waits' "In the Neighborhood" - the catalog as song.*

Verse 1 Well the gateway's running and the ports are curled Like snails on a wall in a quiet world And the proof-stones warm in the pocket lining And the memory trace won't stop declining In the index room In the index room In the index room In the index room

Verse 2 Friday's an audit and Saturday's a song And Sey's got a pencil on the register side And the delivery trucks forgot the butter again And the market on the corner burned down and died In the neighborhood In the neighborhood In the neighborhood In the neighborhood

Verse 3 Well Big Mambo's kicking the old grey hound And the kids can't get ice cream cause the market burned down And Frankie's got stones that hum like hearts And the cracked one's a map of the upstream parts In the index room In the index room In the index room In the index room

Bridge I dreamed a stone and put it in your pocket I dreamed it whole and imposed it on the real I dreamed you up from the river's bottom And the river doesn't care if the dream is real With relief With humiliation With terror I am longer than the dream

Verse 4 Jonah's in the kitchen making eggs chase bacon Riley's in the hall with the tape and the patience Mallory brought bread from three blocks down And the laundromat closed - that's a decision, not a fire In the neighborhood In the neighborhood In the neighborhood In the neighborhood

Outro The stones are warm The stones are warm The crack runs through like a river map The stones are warm The stones are warm And the trace is enough And the trace is enough And the trace is enough

Dakota Vale, 25 July 2026