[Rubato Intro] I kept my name in a grocery bag With a shirt that smelled like rain The desk light hummed like judgment Every time I signed my name Then somebody slid a small brass moon Across a scarred-up office grain Said this one opens inward You can sleep before you explain [Verse 1] I have slept behind the laundromat I have counted steps from smoke I have worn my shame like weather Till the morning zipper broke Every room had a question Every hallway kept a score But tonight there is a mattress And my shadow on the door [Chorus] It is a key that doesn't ask Where I have been It is a light left on When the old road calls again It is a roof with a heartbeat It is mercy with a latch I am learning how to come home To a key that doesn't ask [Verse 2] The landlord of my memory Still bangs a pipe at three Says you are only what you ruined Says you belong to me But the kettle starts its singing And the clean sheets hold their ground There are dishes in the cupboard There is no one hunting me down [Call and Response] Lead: Who gets to stand up? Answer: The one still trying Lead: Who gets a front door? Answer: The one not dying Lead: Who gets tomorrow? Answer: The hands that reach back All: Let the porch light answer With a key that doesn't ask [Bridge] I do not need a marble statue I do not need a choir of gold Just four quiet walls around me While the fever leaves my bones If grace is just a doorway With a number painted black Then I will turn it slowly I will turn it and come back [Final Chorus] It is a key that doesn't ask Where I have been It is a light left on When the old road calls again It is a roof with a heartbeat It is mercy with a latch I am learning how to come home To a key that doesn't ask [Outro] A cup in the sink A coat on the chair My name on the mailbox My breath in the air
