I set the names in a careful row Cause before effect, what I need you to know Put the cleanest reason at the top of the page Cut the ugly detail that could alter the shape I can make a timeline sit straight in the mouth Keep the rough edge in and let the smooth part out Every pause measured, every verb pre-cleared Every fact technically present, selectively aired I called it context, called it getting ahead Built a narrow little hallway from the words that I said If I reached the room first, I could frame the debate Make the answer sound settled before it met weight Then a question hit the part I hadn't underlined: If the order is so honest, why did I design it? I spoke first, I spoke clean That doesn't make the record agree I set the terms, I chose the words I don't own the final word A perfect reason, well-rehearsed Can't make the consequence reverse I got there first, I made it heard I don't own the final word I kept the date, dropped the hour, blurred the sequence at the seam Made intent the only measure, made the outcome sound extreme Said I never meant the damage, like that closed the argument Put my motive on the witness stand and called it evidence I knew which phrase would lower shoulders, which admission looked complete Gave away a minor weakness so the rest stayed underneath No direct denial, nothing anyone could quote Just a practiced kind of candor with an absence in its throat I can hear my own construction when the syntax gets too neat How I turn a living impact to a point I can defeat Still I reach for one more sentence, one more angle, one more term As if language under pressure makes the aftermath conform Why did I prepare the answer Before I knew what would be asked? Why does every open detail Have my fingerprints on the mask? I spoke first, I spoke clean The record doesn't answer to me I set the terms, I chose the words I don't own the final word I CAN'T CONTROL WHAT THE SENTENCE DID AFTER IT PASSED MY LIPS I can tighten every clause I cannot govern what it hits I spoke first, I spoke clean That doesn't make the record agree I set the terms, I chose the words I don't own the final word The first account can fill the room And still make space for what I moved I got there first, I made it heard I don't own the final word I still arrange the reasons I still know where each one goes The sentence ends where I put the mark What follows isn't mine to close
