[Intro — clipped over an unresolved two-bar loop] Halfway to work. Turn around. I did. I did. Did I? [Verse 1] In my head the stove is blue, A little mouth consuming unattended air. Maybe the door did not catch. That's a house. That's a lock. That's care. Back upstairs: a cold black ring, Dead as anything can be. Turn the knob. Pull the door. Say it: Off. Locked. Safe. Leave. Thirty seconds, all the world holds still. Going back works. I'm telling you. It works. [Pre-Chorus] If I can picture fire, I inherit the flame. If I let it go unwatched, The ashes know my name. Remembering isn't evidence. Only going back is evidence. [Chorus — too short] Smoke alarm heart Goes off when there's nothing burning. Smoke alarm heart— [Verse 2 — relief spends itself as anger] The shower runs behind me. The hallway waits outside the steam. Nine-fifteen becomes nine-forty. I'm not late. I'm in the lot. Forty minutes gone because a lock Would not accept remembering. If anybody else around here Ever did what they said they'd do, I would not have to be the only one watching. I hear myself say it to the empty car. Too hard. I run the sentence back for damage. The key leaves a clean little moon in my palm. I'm back at the door before I notice. [Chorus — returns too early] Smoke alarm heart Goes off when there's nothing burning. Smoke alarm— [Verse 3 — fear resumes custody] Then the email that I read Until each harmless word looks wrong. Bank app. Refresh. Same number. Refresh. Your thread without three dots. Check. No dots. Check. [Bridge — everything drops to a bare pulse] One little chirp from the ceiling. The pipes knock once. The phone opens one white eye. I name every sound correctly. I know exactly what they are. The body doesn't take my word. My blood votes fire. The body files its own report. The report says: Run. [Final Chorus — fragments collide, not harmonize] Smoke alarm— Nothing burning— Heart goes off— Nothing— Smoke alarm heart— Goes off— Goes off— [Outro — exact original loop, flat] Lock it. Walk. Back. Lock it. Lock it. Walk. Back. Lock it. The knob is cold. My hand is hot. Off. Locked. Safe. Leave. Halfway down the stairs: Did I?
