Somebody hold my glasses —
Not you, Roy. You lost a passport yesterday.
I swam in from the dinghy, twenty dollars overhead
White Bay keeps no dock on purpose — so you swim the last stretch instead
Roy was on his stool with a soggy bill above his crown
Said "only honest men swim in — you've earned this, sit on down"
Birmingham accent, eleven days on a trip meant for four
Painkiller sweating on a bar he's made his own
Said his wife went quiet around last Thursday — didn't say much more
Said it like a weather front a man learns to leave alone
Dollar bills on the rafters, damp names on the wall
Blender coughing like it owed somebody money
Bartender said "you made it, captain"
Jimmy said "barely" — Roy said "funny"
Swimming to the bar with my money in the air
Soggy dollar in my fist, nutmeg in my hair
Roy says the water's fine — Roy says a lot of things
He's been saying them for eleven days at White Bay
The boats out on the mooring had their names painted on the side
Resolve and Patience, Second Chance, rocking on the evening tide
Roy said each was named by someone who badly wanted to believe
And raised his Painkiller to the names that couldn't leave
Roy bought a round for a couple on their honeymoon night
Called them "kids" — they were forty-three, holding hands too tight
Told them love is mostly luggage that you check and you keep
And knowing when to quit the day and let the other one sleep
He had a boarding pass he wouldn't lose
Ink gone soft from rum and weather
Said "Birmingham's lovely this time of year" — old news
Then ordered two more like a man getting better
I asked Roy what he did for a living
Roy said "Previously?" Then stared at the floor
He's not not going home — very clear about that
Said "once you put yourself in the equation
The numbers stop behaving like they should"
Swimming to the bar with my money in the air
Soggy dollar in my fist, nutmeg in my hair
Roy says the water's fine — Roy says a lot of things
He's been saying them for eleven days at White Bay
Said "women from Birmingham have a particular silence
That means something you learn not to knock"
Roy went quiet himself around half four
Which scared everybody more than the talk
He thumbed his phone under the table
No new blue bubbles, no missed calls
Laughed like a hinge going rusty
Said "marriage is a weather report, that's all"
Jimmy said "that sounds expensive"
Roy said "son, you don't know the half of it"
Swimming to the bar with my money in the air
Soggy dollar in my fist, nutmeg in my hair
Roy says the water's fine — Roy says a lot of things
He's been saying them for eleven days at White Bay
Roy's flight left Monday, Roy waved at Wednesday
Thursday bought him one more day
Jimmy pinned his twenty up to dry
Signed the wall where the rafters lie:
Came in wet, left less sure
White Bay, don't wait up for me