The Errands Can Wait

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
It started at eleven
that particular grey
that doesn't threaten — just suggests
The pharmacie can wait
The boulangerie will survive
without my exact change
for one afternoon
I put the kettle on
and took my shoes off
in that order
which is the order
of someone who has decided
[Pre-Chorus]
The city gave me a day off
and the city never does that
So I'm taking it
before it changes its mind
[Chorus]
The errands can wait
The errands can wait
I'm listening to the awning
take its only lesson in percussion
and the gutter is conducting
a concert for no one's benefit
and I have a blanket
and a window
and a cup of something
that doesn't need to be anything
more than warm
[Verse 2]
My socks are making that sound
on the parquet — that soft scuffing
that only happens
when the apartment is quiet enough
to hear the apartment
The laundry is becoming modern art
on the radiator — one sleeve reaching
toward the window
like it also wants
to watch
[Pre-Chorus]
Bà ngoại used to say
mưa là trời đang giặt đồ
— the rain is the sky doing laundry
So today the sky and I
are doing the same chore
and neither of us
is in a hurry
[Chorus]
The errands can wait
The errands can wait
I'm listening to the awning
take its only lesson in percussion
and the gutter is conducting
a concert for no one's benefit
and I have a blanket
and a window
and a cup of something
that doesn't need to be anything
more than warm
[Bridge]
There's a kind of love
that only arrives in weather
You can't schedule it
You can't earn it
The rain just picks a Tuesday
and hands you back
to yourself
I've been someone's colleague
someone's tenant
someone's pronunciation project
since I landed at De Gaulle
with two suitcases
and an accent
Today I am nobody's anything
and the rain
is the first French thing
that never corrected me
[Final Chorus]
The errands can wait
and so can the woman
who runs them
She's here
in socks
listening to the sky
do laundry
and she doesn't need
to be anything
more than warm