After midnight the rooms forget how to speak I sit with the words I never spent The air still knows your absence by heart I still hear children laughing outside Their voices cut clean through the quiet I keep Bright as a life that never learned my ending I let the sound stay where it belongs Out there in a world that kept its appointments In here the clock gave up years ago I smile the way I learned when crying became useless I still hear children laughing outside I still hear children laughing outside Little summers that never met you Little voices that don’t owe me anything They laugh like the night is new I stay like the night is the same They don’t know this room This room knows every hour you didn’t return I used to wait for the laughter to fade It never learned how It arrives on time every time A reminder that time sent other people instead of sending you back I keep the sentence I was too late to say It sits with me and listens too I still hear children laughing outside A world that didn’t wait I still hear children laughing outside I remember the night that never finished I still hear children laughing outside The smile stays The heart does not They get to start I get the encore no one asked for I still hear children laughing outside I still hear children laughing outside