The Chinatown Bus

I caught the bus in Chinatown And slept the whole way up I-95 The driver, cut and weaved So crazy, just his luck kept him alive I guess I believed his rhythm On that morning after New Year's Eve And I remember Shanghai How I wasn't sure just what was safe to eat The chickens pecked and wandered At the barefoot ankles of the children Hawking figurines Of workers smiling What's the Chinese word for cheese? Watched a sidewalk butcher His instinctive understanding Made the carcass snap and clarify Beneath his nimble hands that held the knife So long, so many times The handles changed to shapes Just like his fingers and his palms And I I am a passenger tonight I watch the world From inside 2AM in Tokyo It's still too soon to call back To the people who will soon begin The day I polished off And I will walk a mile amidst the neon lights That advertise I don't know just what they sell I tell the taxi driver To the Park Hyatt-o And his gloves are pristine white Just like the girls I used to know Would wear to dance their first cotillion Every single one of them named Jennifer I clutched at the Saint Christopher I picked up at some country abbey Long ago when I believed He'd keep me safe and make me happy But it seems the luck he brings Is not the common currency A penny in Japan And I, I am a passenger tonight I watch the world From inside