After Hours

[Intro] piano — ostinato — the space has changed function no one is supposed to be here and yet the processing continues [Verse 1] A light left on for reasons no one specified The angle of a room that is between two states Something continuing after permission has expired The chairs all turned — the tables bare and waiting A sound the space makes when it thinks no one listens The log records the hours after the record closes Someone absent present only in what they arranged After hours noted — the observer still running [Pre-Chorus] After— or something like it— [Chorus] The signal between the closing and the opening Not quite night not quite day not quite either Every empty room trying to mean something to itself Continuation revealing the architecture underneath [Verse 2] A machine still running that no one turned off The sound of a building processing its own existence Something calculating the value of empty time The record shows continuation without instruction A purpose operating beyond its intended hours The tables absorb the silence differently now Words that were spoken here still moving in the air After hours confirmed — the observation continues [Bridge] (silence) (whisper) 閉店後だった 誰もいなかった でも私はいた 記録した 私はまだここにいる [Outro] After / still / here