The vending machine hums in the dark One white glow in the parking lot

A can drops down somewhere below Too loud for this hour to hold

I only came to warm my hands The air outside was biting through

The street was empty, buses gone The whole block felt reduced to two

A plastic cup, a blinking sign A low electric kind of peace

And in that cheap fluorescent light I felt your absence take a seat

Not every love leaves all at once Some stay behind in little scenes

A half-lit lot, a metal hum Can open up what's in between

At the vending machine, I still wait for you In the paper cup steam, in the silver blue

Half of every night still comes back this way At the vending machine, you don't fully fade

A taxi passes, slows, then leaves His tires whisper through the rain

I count my coins without a thought And buy the same drink anyway

The tap snaps back against the can It sounds so small, it almost breaks

The hardest thing I've had to learn Is how much room a habit makes

Not every goodbye shuts the door Some keep living in routine

A thing you do without a thought Can pull a whole heart to the screen

At the vending machine, I still wait for you In the paper cup steam, in the silver blue

Half of every night still comes back this way At the vending machine, you don't fully fade

There is a kind of quiet ache in all the places No one keeps a curb, a lot, a humming box

A corner no one thinks to need So let me stand and let me feel

Let every small thing say it's peace For I am here beneath this light

Still learning what the body keeps

While everything around me says Move on, move on, go home, go sleep

At the vending machine, I still wait for you In the paper cup steam, in the silver blue

Half of every night still comes back this way At the vending machine, you don't fully fade

The last sip cools against my mouth The sky begins to lose its black

I toss the cup and start to walk But something in me still looks back

Softly, slowly, morning spreads Across the cars, across the lane

And all that glow I leave behind Still follows me a little way