Lyric

The pattern climbed the hallway

In roses turning thin

A corner lifted slightly

Like it knew what stayed within

The frames were hanging level

The lamps were lowered clean

But something in the plaster

Had learned what lay between

I did not press my ear there

I did not need the sound

The paper held the sentence

That your mouth had folded down

Hush behind the wallpaper

Kept what no one dared to say

Every little flower

Turned its face another way

A seam above the staircase

Had darkened at the edge

As if some small confession

Had been pressed beneath the thread

You called the house forgiving

You called the silence kind

But every covered surface

Kept count of what you left behind

The wall kept count

The wall kept count

Not loud enough to accuse

Not soft enough to doubt

The wall kept count

The wall kept count

Of every careful word

Your voice went around

Hush behind the wallpaper

Kept what no one dared to say

Every little flower

Turned its face another way

No witness in the doorway

No letter on the tray

Hush behind the wallpaper

Had learned your name by day

The glue had gone uneven

Where the old words settled in

A quiet row of roses

Had been listening through the skin

I stood there with my hands still

No anger on display

The house had done the speaking

In its own polite way

I used to want an answer

I used to need a scene

Now even covered surfaces

Know what you tried to mean

I will not tear the paper

I will not make it plain

Some rooms reveal the damage

By refusing to explain

Hush behind the wallpaper

Held the shape you could not face

Every faded flower

Kept its perfect place

No broken glass below me

No mercy to arrange

Hush behind the wallpaper

Did not need to change

By morning, nothing moved there

The roses looked the same

But underneath the pattern

The house still kept your name