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Spoken version
A recorded reading of “Static on the Rooftop”. If the player does not load, use the original audio source.
Three of us above the flats. One radio between our knees. The aerial leans into cloud. A voice enters, breaks apart, returns with weather in its mouth. You mention a job in another town. He names the rain expected tomorrow. We have known one another too long to call this nothing. Below, a siren carries red from one block to the next. I turn the dial until the station clears. No one speaks into the new silence.
Lyrics
(ssshh) Three of us above the flats. One cheap radio between. The aerial leans into the clouds. The station slips in and out clean. You talk about a job in town. He talks about the weather. I hear the thing we will not say. Getting louder in the static. We have known each other too long. To call this nothing now. We change the subject carefully. Like it will save us somehow. Static on the rooftop. Your name under my tongue. Static on the rooftop. The night is not yet done. A siren turns the street to red. You hand the radio to me. I could ask why you stopped coming. But the song breaks into white noise. And gives us room to breathe. Say it when you mean it. (ssshh) Or let the silence say it first. (mm-mm) Static on the rooftop. Your name under my tongue. Static on the rooftop. The night is not yet done. (ssshh)
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