It's break time again
The steam whistle blowing
All hands stop
Stacks of boxes
Not growing

We walk outside
To have a smoke on the wharf
Where grass grows up through concrete
And the sea is green and dark

Hobnail boots ping ping
On metal stairs
Wrinkled scarred hands zip up jackets
Old dogs who know nothing but work
Blow smoke in your face
And call you "boy" in thick accent

They don't scare me like they used to
Because I have cuts on my hands now
From diving over a railing
To save an impatient old man

It seems just when life gets to where you want it
You have a dream about someone
And your jumping over railings
Into the teeth of a cutting board

It seems just when life gets to where you want it
You have a dream about a girl
And your waking up alone in the dark
Drinking water and taking pain pills
Even when nothing really hurts at all