The Cable I Cannot Find at the Airport (Dongle)

Lyrics

[Intro]
Oh, you sly little thing, where have you gone?

[Verse 1]
At O'Hare, Terminal 2, near Gate C17,
March 15, 1979, under the flickering fluorescent light,
I pat my pockets, empty as John Smith's clipboard.
Black coiled USB-C, frayed at the end like a promise broken,
You were there in my hand, charging my old Nokia,
While I sipped stale coffee, 68 degrees chilling my bones.
Now the PA crackles, flight to Denver delayed,
And you're vanished, tangled in some stranger's haste.

[Chorus]
Cable, my faithful snake, why desert me now?
In this vast hall of squeaky luggage carts,
Half-eaten granola bar on the bench mocks my loss.
I rummage the bin, fingers on laminate cold,
But you're not there, not in the graveyard of cords.
Come back, you frayed lifeline, plug into my world.

[Verse 2]
John Smith, the handler, shrugs with his smudged list,
'We see 'em every day, pile up till they're tossed.'
Item #4792, unclaimed after thirty days,
Left by a trench coat shadow on security tape.
The scent of jet fuel wafts through the service door,
Mixed with metallic tang from the AC vents.
I imagine you coiled in a break room art piece,
Tangled with brothers, a forgotten sculpture.

[Chorus]
Cable, my faithful snake, why desert me now?
In this vast hall of squeaky luggage carts,
Half-eaten granola bar on the bench mocks my loss.
I rummage the bin, fingers on laminate cold,
But you're not there, not in the graveyard of cords.
Come back, you frayed lifeline, plug into my world.

[Bridge]
What if you're powering someone else's dreams,
In a battered suitcase with a broken zipper?
Or lost forever in the hum of the PA system,
Crackling announcements of delays and despair.
I address you now, dear cable, from 4:45 PM dusk,
Return to me, end this frantic search.

[Outro]
Oh, you sly little thing... where have you gone?