Flicker in Hallway Light

The receiver cools in my hand

Your last word still hanging there

I count the cracks in the paint

{bare felt piano, room-tone

entrance} Hallway bulb keeps losing its nerve I keep mine where nobody

sees

Your name goes dark on the glass And I forget how to

leave

The carpet smells like rain and dust

The stairwell hums through the wall

I almost call you back again But nothing good would fall {close

vocal, brushed percussion enters} If I move,

the floor might answer

If I stay, the silence knows There is a door inside my

chest

Half open, almost closed

(ahhhh) {soft build, synth pad blooms}

I am under the failing light

Trying not to break tonight

You are gone, but I am here Holding on to what is

clear Let it flicker,

let it fade I can stand inside the ache

(ooh) {widescreen chorus, fragile breathy lift}

The elevator clicks below

Someone laughs, then disappears I press my spine against the door And

swallow all the years

I loved you loud inside my head But quiet on the line

Now every second asks me why I made your ending mine {piano

returns close, percussion thins} There is no clean way through goodbye No

gentle map for letting go I turn the dead phone in my

palm Like it might learn to glow Then somewhere under all this

hurt A smaller truth appears I can be alone right now And

still be standing here {breakdown,

breath-led harmonies} I am under the failing light

Trying not to break tonight

You are gone, but I am here Holding on to what is

clear Let it flicker,

let it fade I can stand inside the ache If the morning

finds me changed I will answer to my name (ooh) {half-step surge,

full fragile lift} The light stays on

I let it

(ahhhh) {felt piano coda,

glockenspiel

farewell}