one... two... the dark already knew I used to mark the nights like they still owed me something Every almost had a number Every silence had a place I kept them in a line that never ended Until the line forgot my name I counted the hours you might turn around I counted the words I never spent I counted the midnights that still wore your shape Then the numbers lost their meaning The years sat down and stayed They never asked to be remembered I let them pile without a name I let them pile without a sound I stopped counting when you left I stopped counting when you left The calendar became a room I never enter The nights became a single long one four... five... nothing I still smile when the dark arrives It never learned that you are gone I keep the same old hour open As if the numbers might return I stopped counting when you left I stopped I stopped counting when you left one... no more