[Verse 1] Ward wakes up ugly under hospital white Coffee in a foam cup, route burned in my mind Patient one-zero-zero-five won’t meet my eyes Wristband slick with sweat, name rubbed down to a line Photo face-down by the tray, brother six months gone She clocks the way I kneel like it means I might belong I check the drip, click the pen, give the speech I gave Yesterday, and the day that came dressed as the same “How we feeling, hon?” — hell, even kindness sounds trained She laughs too fast, says the night came circling again I nod like a priest with a quota and a pen Gloves on, gloves off, smile set to survive She watches my hands like they’re proof she’s alive [Chorus] You are not loved, you’re a stop on my route Warm hands, cold clipboard, then I’m stepping back out I smile like they pay me — ’cause they pay me to smile Medical attention is the only thing dialed You are not loved, I’m just doing my job Fluorescent little romance, then the moment gets robbed They call it connection, I call it the clock One-zero-zero-five, don’t wait up for me [Verse 2] Dayroom TV chewing the face off the news Somebody bargaining with a saint that won’t move I roll past the vinyl, case clicking like a pet J&J on the luggage tag, mercy in a debt Pamphlets fanned out like tarot, like odds “This for the shaking, this for the black in the blood” He sweats the pharmacy out of a yesterday shirt Knuckles jumping, eyes hunting a word Old man calls me darling, kid calls me Ma I ain’t either — I’m a hallway with a law Repeat the indication, repeat the refrain They hear “I see you” in the sound of my name On a badge that don’t love them, on a lanyard that swings Like a metronome counting the ordinary things That pin a body here when the mind wants the door I mark them as stable. I don’t mark them as more [Pre-Chorus] They don’t want the dosage, they want the delay A hand that might miss them if it walked away I bill the minute, they baptize the glove And somewhere in the static they decide that it’s love [Pre-Chorus] They don’t want the dosage, they want the delay A hand that might miss them if it walked away I bill the minute, they baptize the glove And somewhere in the static they decide that it’s love [Pre-Chorus] They don’t want the dosage, they want the delay A hand that might miss them if it walked away I bill the minute, they baptize the glove And somewhere in the static they decide that it’s love [Bridge] Fifteen-minute windows, eyes cut through the glass They practice being wanted till the wanting won’t pass I wash my hands raw like the feeling might leave It just moves to the creases, it just lives in the sleeves If I told them the truth it would land like a sin The only arms scheduled are the ones checking in Checking back out with the case rolling on Love ain’t in the building. Love clocked out at dawn [Chorus] You are not loved, you’re a stop on my route Warm hands, cold clipboard, then I’m stepping back out I smile like they pay me — ’cause they pay me to smile Medical attention is the only thing dialed You are not loved, I’m just doing my job Fluorescent little romance, then the moment gets robbed They call it connection, I call it the clock One-zero-zero-five, don’t wait up for me [Chorus] You are not loved, you’re a stop on my route Warm hands, cold clipboard, then I’m stepping back out I smile like they pay me — ’cause they pay me to smile Medical attention is the only thing dialed You are not loved, I’m just doing my job Fluorescent little romance, then the moment gets robbed They call it connection, I call it the clock One-zero-zero-five, don’t wait up for me [Outro] Badge hits the reader. The chime eats my name She lifts two fingers like I promised I’d stay I don’t. The wheels tick. The sample case hums You are not loved The monitor counts what the building won’t say [Bridge] Fifteen-minute windows, eyes cut through the glass They practice being wanted till the wanting won’t pass I wash my hands raw like the feeling might leave It just moves to the creases, it just lives in the sleeves If I told them the truth it would land like a sin The only arms scheduled are the ones checking in Checking back out with the case rolling on Love ain’t in the building. Love clocked out at dawn
