mlpetty

Arithmetic

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There’s a man at the window
counting all the cars
he says one belongs to me
I say none of them are mine

you’ve been keeping little numbers
in the pockets of your coat
adding up the strangers
until you think you know

the math is wrong
the math is wrong
you forgot the zero
where I said no

I gave you every ugly thing
laid it neatly on the table
names and rooms and summer heat
everything I wasn’t proud of

you looked beneath the table
for the thing I didn’t say

there wasn’t anything there

there wasn’t anything there

and now you’re sorry
like sorry is a fire exit
like you can pull the alarm
and disappear

don’t tell me
you’re poison

don’t tell me
you knew

I don’t need another prophet
predicting his own ruin

I needed you to ask me
before you knew

the math is wrong
the math is wrong

there are hands
that never touched me

there are doors
I didn’t open

there are men
who wanted something

and then there is
what I did

you forgot me
in the equation

I still want you.
that’s why I’m counting too.

if I tell you everything
will you hear everything

if I tell you everything
will you leave it where I put it

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