Jeff Zarling - Room 408

Four, zero, eight
You arrive at 17 past 10
Same gray coat, same fountain pen
You sign a name that isn't yours, then count the numbers on the doors
I wait upstairs without a sound
Your little note is folded down
No questions when the lift arrives
That's how we keep this thing alive
Third floor
Don't look at me
Fourth floor
Let strangers see
One small bell
One second late, then you disappear
Behind 408
Room 408
Never write my name
Room 408
We invented our own game
No photographs, no alibis, Just close the door
And change the time
You order coffee
Nothing more
Two white cups outside the door
A lipstick mark
A hotel pen
A little code that says again
Down in the lobby
Half past two
You walk straight past me like you do
The doorman thinks we're strangers still
I almost laugh but never will
Second floor
A mirrored wall
Third floor, you make the call
One small bell
We never wait, you know exactly why it's four zero eight
Room four zero eight
Never write my name
Room four zero eight
We invented our own game
Leave the key beside the plate
Come before it gets too late
No tomorrow, no debate
Meet me in room 408.
408.
408
You never told me where you live
You never asked
I never told you what
I do
You never asked
Maybe that's the reason we still have something left
Nothing to explain
Nothing to confess
At 17 past 10 again again four zero zero eight
Don't be late
Room 4-0-8
Never write my name
Room 4-0-8
We invented our own game
Leave the key beside the plate
Come before it gets too late
No tomorrow, no debate
Meet me in room bye bye bye bye bye bye.
4-0-8.
4-0-8
One day they'll change the carpet there
Paint the walls and move the chair
Someone else will take the key
And never know about you and me
But every hotel keeps a trace
A numbered date, a missing page
And somewhere underneath the pain, we'll still be 408
Room 408
Never write my name
Room 408
We invented our own game
Leave the key beside the plate
Come before it gets too late
No no debate
Meet me in room 408
Room 408
Let the whole hotel pretend
Room 408
We don't need to know the end
When the elevator waits
Turn your face and count to eight
Walk away and change your name then
Then come back and start again.
408.
408.
408.
17 past 10
You're late
By one minute good good
Good Good