The Rooster's Pop (Stopcock (reprise))

Lyrics

[Intro]
Under the sink, where the pipes bend.
It smells like damp stone and rust.
Reverend Goss holds the silver watch.
He nods once. A matter of trust.

[Verse 1]
The floor is cold on my knees.
It’s always cold here, even in the sun.
The handle is brass, worn smooth like a river stone.
I practiced this after Kiki’s first lesson was done.
His time was seven seconds.
Then six.
Then five point eight.
He said the pipe groaned like a whale.
I just wait.

[Chorus]
He says “Now!” and my hand turns fast.
A quarter-turn, sharp and right.
The water hammer shouts in the wall.
And then the world goes quiet.
And then… the rooster’s pop!
A little crow from deep inside the brass.
Four point two seconds.
A new record that will last.

[Verse 2]
Kiki says it’s air escaping the line.
A pressure differential.
I think it sounds like a secret.
A little noise that’s confidential.
Just for me and the pipes and the dust under the sink.
Pemba says every tool has its own voice if you think.
This one is small and quick.
A little pop to say the job is done.
A little rooster crowing before the morning run.

[Chorus]
He says “Now!” and my hand turns fast.
A quarter-turn, sharp and right.
The water hammer shouts in the wall.
And then the world goes quiet.
And then… the rooster’s pop!
A little crow from deep inside the brass.
Four point two seconds.
A new record that will last.

[Bridge]
Reverend Goss writes the time in his little black book.
Next to my name.
He says it’s a vital skill for a parsonage.
Not just a game.
If a pipe bursts in the winter dark.
I know the move.
My hand remembers the cold brass feel.
I have nothing to prove.
Just the quick turn, and the silence that follows.

[Outro]
Four point two.
I wipe my hand on the rag by the bucket.
A little smudge of rust on my palm.
The house is still.
Just the tick-tick-ticking of the clock.
And the quiet calm.