Left for Dead, Still Delivered

Radio static, desert wind in my teeth A sunrise hits my stitches—still I breathe Shallow grave, endless road Courier Six, I don’t stay dead Platinum chip, I pay what’s owed Mojave won’t bury me—I’m still ahead Begin again Doc Mitchell’s steady hands, made the broken whole Victor dug the dirt back like a debt he stole Good springs in the wasteland, cold water, warm light I stood up on new legs, taught my hands to fight A man in checkered shadow took my job and laughed Left a hole where memory used to be, cut clean in half So I follow neon footprints through the dust and heat Not just for payback—because I deliver, even beat Bear flag wants a border, bull flag wants a chain Lucky tower wants the future bought with old-world brains A smiling screen says “Yes”—like dice that never miss But the Mojave made me the hand that tilts the bliss Shallow grave, endless road Courier Six, I don’t stay dead Platinum chip, I pay what’s owed Mojave won’t bury me—I’m still ahead Begin again The Tops burns bright with secrets under velvet signs The Strip keeps breathing slow like a beast in lines NCR writes laws in ink, Legion writes in scars Mr. House counts centuries behind bulletproof stars Hoover Dam, thunder spine—two rivers in one war Every speech, a loaded chamber; every step, a door I was “just” a courier, ’til the desert chose my name Now I carry ending fire like a torch with no flame Every town I pass through asks what kind of god I’ll be But gods don’t bleed—and I do—so I choose carefully I don’t wear a crown, I wear the miles across my skin If fate needs hands, it finds mine—so I walk back in Shallow grave, endless road Courier Six, I don’t stay dead Platinum chip, I pay what’s owed Mojave won’t bury me—I’m still ahead Begin again Sierra Madre breathing red, collars counting time Three lost souls beside me, stitched to the same line Holograms in the hallways, Cloud in the street I learned you can’t carry everything—some weight you leave Zion turns green-gold, then gun-smoke gray Burned Man with a bible, showing wrath a way Tribes at war, one missionary begging “run” I watched mercy and fury share the same sun Big MT stole my brain—left my heart in chrome Think Tank laughs in glass bowls, calling pain “home” Toasters preach, lights scream, old world gone feral So I stole back my self from their carousel The Divide splits the highway, storms that never sleep Ulysses on the ridgeline, secrets buried deep A delivery from my past lit the silos’ teeth So I walked the last road—and faced what I unleashed Shallow grave, endless road Courier Six, I don’t stay dead Platinum chip, I pay what’s owed Mojave won’t bury me—I’m still ahead Shallow grave… endless road… Courier Six… still I breathe… Shallow grave… endless road… Courier Six… still I breathe…