A Debt Paid
Verse
The heat is sitting on the parking lot
Two in the afternoon, the asphalt’s soft
Property management is next to the nail salon
Neon sign buzzing, but the light is gone
Got the money order folded in my hand
Thirty days of living in a promised land
That don’t promise much but the sun and the dust
And a rattling AC unit you can’t trust.
Chorus
Slipped the envelope through the metal slot
Out here in the burning lot
The landlord don’t want my prayer
He wants his offering right there
Lord, another month is made
Another debt paid
But my soul’s still overdrawn.
Verse
Glass door is locked, so I don’t go in
No congregation here, no original sin
Just the same three cars idling in a row
Waiting for the traffic on the ten to slow
I count the hours I stood on my feet
To buy this little square of the blistering heat
It ain’t a sanctuary, it’s just a lease
And fifty extra dollars if you want some peace.
Bridge
I don’t ask for the water, I know it’s dry
I don’t look for salvation in a smoggy sky
Just put the car in drive, roll the window down
Take the long way back across this foothill town.
The slate is clean.
Until the first of the month.
Outro
Debt paid.
Keep the receipt.
Put the car in drive.
Overdrawn.
Just the heat.