Green glass box outside the store
Ten yen's worth of nerve, no more
I memorized your number whole
Wrote it nowhere, heart as scroll
And every evening, quarter to nine
I'd stand outside that leaning shrine
One coin in, a world to say
Three minutes, then it slips away
At the payphone, every night
Finger hovering, holding tight
I fed the slot and heard you speak
And spent my courage by the week
We talked of homework, hid the rest
The truth stayed folded in my chest
The beeping came like closing time
And swallowed every borrowed dime
One coin in, a world to say
Three minutes, then it slips away
At the payphone, summer's end
I called to say — and said"hey friend"
The line went home, the light went dead
Ten yen short of what I meant
They took the booth out years ago
Where does unspent courage go
At the payphone, every night
I almost got the words to flight
If one still stood on that corner lot
I'd call and give it all I've got
Green glass box outside the store
Still holding calls I never made
