The Soft Rewind

You held up the telescope
Fat end to your eye
And every day after was a catalogue
Of how to see the world through a negative lie
Pulled the horizon like a blanket over your head
The sun was a rotting orange on a wobbly roll
'Til it stopped dead

You called it a stunning sunset
I called it the last of the good light
And a perfect waste of the night
Already upon us

There was a point, I started barking like a dog
My command of new languages did not impress you
But the howling drew a crowd
The view from your roof was obscured
By the streetlights glowing red
The cloud cover sucked up the sound
Like a new quilt tucked tight in your bed

You called it a stunning sunset
I called it the last of the good light
And a perfect waste of the night
Coming down on us
You said, "we can wait for sunrise"
I don't have that kind of time
And we left the wasted night
Waiting for the soft rewind
Until the voice said, "This is us"
This is us