If the Mirror Blinks | THE MANY-COLOURED MAN

[INTRO] West stair. Bad lock. Phone hum. Don't knock. [VERSE 1] Someone crying downstairs. Wrong soap. Wet coat. Tuesday in the keyhole. Keep that out of your throat. Don't use the lift. The short little clicks. No reason. Six reasons. Later. The bad one sticks. Your sleeve. That's yours. Good. Ordinary thread. A whole different cuff. Keep it out of the red. Phone hum. Floor hum. A shoe on the stair. No, that's the fridge. There's no fridge there. [PRE-CHORUS] One mirror. I need one mirror. Leave it by the door. If it blinks, we're leaving. Don't ask what for. [CHORUS] Count the doors. Count them again. Four. I checked. Four. Then— Count the doors. Don't trust the pen. Count the doors. Count them again. [INTERLUDE] [VERSE 2] One was a cupboard. The other one's glass. The handle was warm. Did somebody pass? Coat hook. Wrong height. The long coat—don't. That's the old landing. This one won't— Receipt in my pocket. I've written it twice. The ink's got the short-hall weather. The paper smells nice. No, not nice. The other nice. The soap-before-rain. That door wasn't counted. Start it again. [PRE-CHORUS] One mirror. I need one mirror. Leave it by the door. If it blinks, we're leaving. Don't ask what for. [CHORUS] Count the doors. Count them again. Six. I checked. Six. Then— Count the doors. Don't trust the pen. Count the doors. Count them again. [BREAK] [BRIDGE] The lift just stopped. Keys in the hall. The good door's too narrow. The bad one's too tall. No, keep your hand here. Warm. Not that heat. The west stair has daylight. We'll count in the street. [FINAL CHORUS] Count the doors. Count them again. Five. I checked. Five. Then— Count the doors. Don't trust the pen. Count the doors. Count them again. [OUTRO] West stair. Stay near. Count outside. Not here.