Three-oh-one and I start with the cause One bad call, then I circle the cost Add what I knew to the time that I stalled Subtract every reason; the answer gets small Three-oh-three, every digit comes back I close both eyes, still the numbers stay black I carry the one like a weight in my jaw Then double the damage to balance the flaw If cause equals fault, I can make it all mine If doubt equals proof, I can finish the line But each time I solve it, the figures divide And three in the morning keeps changing the sides Three-oh-six, I rebuild the defense I list every fact, then I question the tense Was I late, was I weak, was the warning that clear? I turn one missed minute to evidence — GUILTY! I count what I owed, what I gave, what I hid Then divide every decent thing that I did No room for a maybe, no mercy for doubt I multiply blame till it cancels me — OUT! The display cuts a line through the dark in my head I erase it, replace it, and total the dread — AGAIN! Every answer comes back with another amount I am judge, I am witness, I lose every count — BREAK! Three A.M. arithmetic Every sum turns infinite I won't let the numbers name me I won't make the verdict fit Three A.M. arithmetic I am more than what I missed But the dark keeps doing damage And the answer won't sit still Three-eleven and the grid starts again Same four walls, new remainder to spend I know this is not how responsibility works Still I sharpen each fact till the smallest one hurts I can own what I did without adding the rest I can leave one blank space without calling it theft I say it once clean, but the pulse overrides Then the digits drag every erased line alive Three A.M. arithmetic Every sum turns infinite I won't let the numbers name me I won't make the verdict fit Three A.M. arithmetic I am more than what I missed Still the dark keeps doing damage Still the answer won't sit still
