[Verse 1]
Somebody wrote "tender" in the novel's margins
As if to remind about a precious force
In the next paragraph, the protagonist
Sat down on the belly of a dead horse
The author I read fell from a window many stories high
Stretching out to feed pigeons or a stray cat depending on the website

[Chorus]
Whether or not I have or was given a little more time
There just doesn't seem to be much room for a reply
And it's possible it only belongs where it happened, fine
According to John, fear softens into doubt
To what do I cling and think is mine? No reply

[Verse 2]
"Think the last time I came up this way I was younger"
Said your aunt, isn't it a good line?
We found the garden abandoned
And that night became dark over chicken and wine
Documentarians tossing lemmings stunned over the edge
Wartime juveniles shot and martyred for the crime of stealing eggs
Dinner, by the way, was divine
I drank the last of the coffee waiting for you to rise

[Chorus]
Whether or not I have or was given a little more time
There just doesn't seem to be much room for a reply
And it's possible it only belongs where it happened, fine
According to John, fear softens into doubt
To what do I cling and think is⁠—
Whether or not I have or was given a little more time
There just doesn't seem to be much room for your reply
And it's possible it only belongs where it happened, fine
According to John, fear softens into doubt
To what do I cling and think is mine? No reply
[Outro]
Reply, no