The Rose on the Record Player

She puts the needle down
To let the band play 'Ev'ry Time We Say Good-bye'
From back in '05
When he would take her to the city
And she'd wear the red-striped dress

Heading back home
Over three different bridges
She'd let fog and rain clouds
Crowd up her hair

So that when she came home
She'd have to sneak past the servants
And not show her weakness
In the morning

Now she puts a rose on the record player
Lets it stop and skip the music
Lets it dangle the last note
Before ending it altogether

That's what a mistake sounds like

She puts the perfume on her wrists
On her breasts
On the back of her neck

She sprays every doorway
She leaves shoes all over the rug
Steps into them
Dances around them
Leaves a pair, picks up another
Dances like she used to dance
Back on those city trips

Then she heads into the guest room
And lays herself down
On the turned down sheets
Seeing where he's laying
But not praying that he'll wake up anymore

Now parts of him are ashes
And parts of him are bone
And parts of him are cloth
Mixed in with the blankets and the sheets

She'll be there until she sleeps
Until she's really asleep
Until the rose falls off the record player

And the music--

Fades away