Saw you near the lobby clock
Quarter-past the hour
You tucked your hair behind one ear
Nervous and disarmed
Paper coffee, your name in marker
You smiled like you knew
The songs you'd written in the silence
Were all about us too
Tell me every small disaster
Tell me what you couldn't say
It's always late and raining somewhere
When you turn and walk away
Still I wait against the marble
Counting reasons not to speak
You laugh and mention weather
But tonight your eyes are weak
You ask me how I manage
If I sleep enough these days
The conversation skims the surface
But the past won't wash away
Your wedding band is hidden
By the sleeve inside your coat
We tell a joke about coincidence
There's things we never wrote
Tell me every small disaster
Tell me what you couldn't say
It's always late and raining somewhere
When you turn and walk away
Still I wait against the marble
Counting reasons not to call
You look out at the traffic
Like you're anywhere at all
Maybe in another winter
We could almost get it right
If you said you missed the old songs
I would stay with you tonight
But you gather up your notebooks
Talk around the open door
I keep every almost-moment
Will I always want one more
Tell me every small disaster
Let me be the one you need
It's always late and raining somewhere
But there's still the lobby key
You leave as the hour closes
And the marble starts to gleam
Somehow you are always leaving
Every time we almost dream
Maybe in another winter
We could almost get it right