Telephone Wires and Low Voltage

The copper on the penny has a taste like rain
I keep a catalogue of every little sudden change
Cereal box on the kitchen floor
Someone left a key right inside the door

I am pacing out the perimeter again
Count the cracks up to eleven, back to ten
There is static in the wool of your winter coat
There is swallowed water rattling in the throat

Fear is just a muscle that forgot how to rest
Humming underneath the buttons on an unironed vest
Telephone wires and low voltage hum
Waiting for the morning or the damage to come

I saw the preacher buying batteries at three A.M
He didn't look at me, I didn't look at him
There are radios playing through the drywall seam
Somebody else's forgotten fever dream

And the dog stands rigid at the foot of the bed
Barking at the things that haven't happened yet

Fear is just a muscle that forgot how to rest
Humming underneath the buttons on an unironed vest
Telephone wires and low voltage hum
Waiting for the morning or the damage to come

Turn the dial down, let the radiator breathe
Find a pocket in the jacket where the knuckles don't freeze
It isn't in the shadow, it is in the clean light
It's the way the calendar turns white overnight

Fear is just a muscle that forgot how to rest
Humming underneath the buttons on an unironed vest
Telephone wires and low voltage hum
Waiting for the morning, here it comes

Low voltage hum
Here it comes
Keep the porch light on
Here it comes