**Don’t Call It Goodbye** [Verse 1] Five a.m. The zipper sticks. You drag your case across the tiles. The lift coughs once. It takes you down. Your coffee cools. I pour it out. [Pre-Chorus] The spoon hits steel. A sharp, small sound. I set the cup upside down. [Chorus] Don’t call it goodbye. You didn’t earn the word. No last look. Just the motor’s whirr. Don’t call it goodbye. I won’t make it sweet. One empty hook. One cup to clean. Don’t call it goodbye. [Verse 2] At noon, a box arrives for you. I cross your name with ink that bleeds through. The marker stains my thumb and wrist. I leave the box where the hallway is. [Pre-Chorus] The neighbor asks if you’ll come back. I say, “I don’t know.” I shut the latch. [Chorus] Don’t call it goodbye. You didn’t earn the word. No last look. Just the motor’s whirr. Don’t call it goodbye. I won’t make it sweet. One empty hook. One cup to clean. Don’t call it goodbye. [Bridge] I take the hook out of the wall. A little dust falls through my palm. I move the chair into its place. I sit. I wait. The floorboards shake. [Final Chorus] Don’t call it goodbye. You didn’t earn the word. No last look. Just the motor’s whirr. Don’t call it goodbye. I’ll say it for me. [Band stops] Goodbye. [Full band returns] I turn the cup. I make my tea. [Outro] The spoon hits steel. A sharp, small sound.
