[Intro]
In the hush of dusk, a shadow keeps tally of the cracks in light
A quiet watcher, weighing every footprint, every sigh in sight
[Verse 1]
I am the lamp where the dusk refuses to fade
noting the missing where others parade
A kettle whistling stories of days gone pale
I count the whispers that neighbors fail to tell
[Pre-Chorus]
When the night cuts sharp and the streets forget to breathe
My note-book breathes softly, recording what thieves perceive
[Chorus]
I hear the scream, a thread in the dark’s old quilt
The world looks away, but I remember the tilt of the tilt
A neighbor’s memory rehearsed, a chorus of not-now and not-now
Until a single clue makes the night bow low
[Verse 2]
Polished doors, rehearsed alibis in the hall
A bottle tilted, a curtain caught in a stalled fall
I jot the tremor between steps, the pause before the lie
The clue sits small as a coin, but it refuses to die
[Pre-Chorus]
When the cup rattles and the porch light sways with doubt
I trace the seam where truth leaks out
[Chorus]
I hear the scream, a thread in the dark’s old quilt
The world looks away, but I remember the tilt of the tilt
A neighbor’s memory rehearsed, a chorus of not-now and not-now
Until a single clue makes the night bow low
[Bridge]
The alley remembers more than the mouths do
A crack in paint, a shoe’s faint trace in dew
I am the quiet in the chorus that forgets to forget
Till the truth, like dawn, cannot pretend
[Chorus]
I hear the scream, a thread in the dark’s old quilt
The world looks away, but I remember the tilt of the tilt
A neighbor’s memory rehearsed, a chorus of not-now and not-now
Until a single clue makes the night bow low
[Outro]
And when the dawn unfolds its ordinary grays
I carry the smallest sign, the softest of stays
The quiet observer folds the night back to the day
Until the next detail finds its way
