Half-melted ice
Citrus peel curling in the glass
Your jacket on the back of that lonely chair
Like it’s saving you a seat you never asked for

Stay a little later
Don’t explain
Let the tired conversations fade
Every worry hanging in the air
Sinks slow
Like sugar at the bottom of the drink

Bartender polishes the same old scarred wood
Counting tips in his head
Not out loud
He watches the door like it owes him a favor
But nothing urgent ever walks in anymore

Let the night forget your real name
Coat check ticket
That’s enough to be
Someone drifting easy through the dim
Just a shadow
Learning how to breathe again

Couple by the window fighting in whispers
Hands still touching
Faces turned away
Their laughter from an hour ago
Clings to the lipstick ring on her glass

Leave all the sharp words at the curb
They can wait in the cold till dawn
In here even broken stories soften
Turn to steam
Rising off a cup left untouched

Quiet man in the corner tracing circles
On a napkin stained with old confessions
His phone lights up then goes dark
Like a tiny theater closing for the night

[Bridge]
This room collects what the city drops
Unanswered questions
Forgotten apologies
Loose ends swirling in the air-conditioning
Nobody asks where you came from
Nobody rushes you to leave

So rest your shoulders on this borrowed hour
Let the glass cool your restless hands
Outside
The world keeps ringing
Ringing
In here
Every sound walks barefoot through your mind