Last Post at the Gate

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
Just the wind off the water now.
I trace the oval with my eyes.
The grandstand breathes out dust and salt.
Eighty-three years is a long time to stand watch.
Since nineteen forty-one.
The paint is peeling in the sea air,
showing all your other colors.
All your other seasons.

[Chorus]
And the silence is a roar now.
Louder than the hooves that pounded your dirt.
Louder than the final call from the announcer's booth.
There’s a space in the air where the cheer used to live.
The last post has sounded at the gate.

[Verse 2]
I remember the smell.
Sharp horse liniment and the bay's low-tide brine.
The torn-up betting slips like confetti after a sad parade.
I remember the sound of the bell,
that clean, sharp crack
that sent them running.
A whole life lived in the space between the start and the wire.

[Chorus]
And the silence is a roar now.
Louder than the hooves that pounded your dirt.
Louder than the final call from the announcer's booth.
There’s a space in the air where the cheer used to live.
The last post has sounded at the gate.

[Bridge]
And yes, there were the whispers.
The arguments carried on the wind like gulls.
About the cost, about the care, about the time.
Some said you held on too long.
An old argument with the bayfront land itself.
What should be here.
What comes next.

[Outro]
Two thousand and twenty-four.
The stables are empty.
The track is cold.
Just the wind off the water now,
asking what comes next.