Highwayman

Just outside of Flagstaff
on a stretch of dusty road
in a phone booth with the glass broke out
she told me how she growed

and by the time I got there
she was halfway to L.A.
with some guy up in a Kenworth
who had half a mind to stay

But ain’t a man can keep her
you turn around, she’s gone
she’s running from the devil or
she’s chasing down the dawn

Now mister I ain’t crazy
and mister I ain’t wise
I’m just half a cup of coffee
rubbing sleep out of my eyes

Got pretty close in Frisco
give or take a day
but I seen I barely missed her
when they pulled him from the bay

Seems I’m always half a step
or two or three behind her;
her laugh was like a lighthouse
but her shadow’s what defined her

I heard she blew through Texas
maybe stopped in Lafayette
and I just come from Coeur d’Alene
on axel grease and sweat

Now mister I ain’t stupid
and mister I ain’t scared
she may be splitting atoms or
she may be splitting hairs

But she ain’t stopped for long enough
to see her own forever
and I ain’t gonna stop until
we’re running off together.