Lyric

The window leaves a strip of blue

Across the wall beside the bed

I watch it climb above the socket

Then stop beneath the frame

Your jacket isn't on the chair

Your shoes aren't by the door

Still, when the floorboard moves upstairs

I look up like before

Half lit wall, stay blue a little longer

Headlights slide across the frame

Every passing car redraws it

Then the blue falls back in place

Half lit wall, stay blue a little longer

Before the lamp takes it away

I know the switch is by the doorway

I leave the room like this for now

I take one plate down from the cupboard

Then reach again without a thought

My hand stays there above the shelf

Before I close the door

A message from the building manager

Asks whose name should stay

I read the line three times in silence

Then set the phone face down

Across the street, another window brightens

A rectangle of yellow on the glass

Half lit wall, stay blue a little longer

Headlights slide across the frame

Every passing car redraws it

Then the blue falls back in place

Half lit wall, stay blue a little longer

Before the lamp takes it away

I know the switch is by the doorway

I leave the room like this for now

The hallway timer clicks to darkness

Before I reach the lower floor

I stand there with my keys in hand

Until the lights come back

At the corner store the freezer hums

I reach for the tea you always bought

My fingers close around the bottle

Then I put it back untouched

Back upstairs, the blue has narrowed

To a line beside the frame

I move the chair a little farther

And leave it facing toward the window

A siren passes through the street

Red moves once across the ceiling

Then the refrigerator starts

And the room sounds ordinary again

Half lit wall, stay blue a little longer

One last headlight crosses through

The traffic moves across the ceiling

Then the wall goes still again

I reach the switch beside the doorway

Yellow covers up the blue

Your name is still in that message

The phone stays face down on the table

One plate drying by the sink

The refrigerator running low

The picture frame stays where it was

Under ordinary light