Forty Minutes Without a Word

Lyrics

[Verse 1 — Sisukiro]
You haven't spoken since the first coffee
and I made the second pot
without asking
because asking would be language
and language would be effort
and effort is what Mondays are for
The crossword is open on your lap
You've filled in seven across
and abandoned the rest
to the particular satisfaction
of not finishing
[Verse 2 — Orikusis]
The bread from Friday
is better toasted on Sunday
Everything is better
when it's slightly past its moment
and no one minds
Bà ngoại's Sundays
smelled like cháo and lemongrass
The whole village slowed
to the speed of rice
cooking itself
[Pre-Chorus — Both]
We have nowhere to be
We have nowhere to be
This is not laziness
This is a decision
made by two women
who are very good
at decisions
choosing not to make one
[Chorus — Both]
Forty minutes without a word
and the word we'd use if pressed
is probably just — this
The couch holds both of us
if we arrange the angles
Your feet are on my side
which is your side now
because Sunday redrew the borders
and neither of us
filed an objection
[Bridge — Sisukiro]
I think the highest form of love
is the willingness
to be boring together
Not bored — boring
The active, cooperative construction
of a morning
where nothing happens
and the nothing
is handmade
[Bridge — Orikusis]
You turned a page
I heard the paper
That's the loudest thing
that's happened since ten
and I found it
deeply interesting
not because of what you're reading
but because your hand
turns pages
the same way every time
[Final Chorus — Both]
Forty minutes without a word
and now it's been an hour
and the bread is getting cold
and neither of us
is reaching for the butter
because reaching
would be the first move
toward Monday
and we have agreed
without saying so
to stay here