It Knows You

I keep seeing the same black bird On a different street I keep hearing my own name In the supermarket heat I want the lights to flicker I want the lift to stall I want the mirror to miss me By a second, that’s all I want the dog to notice I want the moon to lag I want the sky to load in Like a plastic bag I want the man at the crossing To turn before I speak I want the rain to fall upwards Just once this week There’s a pattern in the carpet There’s a number in the foam There’s a room behind the morning Where they keep my childhood home And I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m functioning I’m clean behind the eyes But the traffic lights are blinking Like they know when someone lies Something’s watching through the weather Something’s counting in the walls Something smiles before the answer Something catches when I fall I don’t know it I don’t know it I don’t know it But I almost do I don’t know it I don’t know it I don’t know it But it knows you I keep finding little errors In the ordinary day There’s a waiter with no shadow There’s a child who walks away I want the clocks to argue I want the floor to bend I want a stranger’s sentence To begin before mine ends I want the birds on the phone wire To spell out something true I want the dead screen glowing With the shape of you I want the door to open On a corridor of stars I want the taxi driver To confess he knows who we are There’s a joke beneath the pavement There’s a hand inside the glass There’s a cough before the thunder There’s a future in the past And I’m calm, I’m calm, I’m beautiful I’m folded into place But the adverts keep repeating With my mother’s younger face Something’s watching through the weather Something’s counting in the walls Something smiles before the answer Something catches when I fall I don’t know it I don’t know it I don’t know it But I almost do I don’t know it I don’t know it I don’t know it But it knows you Maybe it’s kinder than I think Maybe the code is only light Maybe the hand behind the curtain Is just the dark holding us tight Maybe the stars are little windows Maybe the sea is where they breathe Maybe the world is not a prison Maybe it’s trying not to leave I keep seeing the same black bird I keep hearing the same bell I keep waking up before me With a story I can’t tell I want the lights to flicker I want the lift to stall I want the mirror to miss me By a second, that’s all Something’s watching through the weather Something’s counting in the walls Something smiles before the answer Something catches when I fall I don’t know it I don’t know it I don’t know it But I almost do I don’t know it I don’t know it I don’t know it But it knows you