Ten Quiet Minutes

Look up
Just ten minutes, look up

Cold fries going soft by your elbow
Condensation ring on the tablecloth
You tap that low-battery warning
I count the seconds, then I count them off
The waiter's stacking chairs by the doorway
Our plates are waiting on a word
I'm not here to start a courtroom
I just miss the way we used to be heard

Your screen lights up, mine lights up too
Maybe we're both afraid of what gets through
Turn it face-down, let the room stay still
Give me ten, if you want to feel

Look up, baby, look up
Leave the whole world outside this cup
No big speech, no fixing us
Just ten quiet minutes, look up

Missed-call banner sliding across your screen
You read it once, then you let it go
You turn your phone beneath the napkin
Like a small white flag we both can know
You reach across for one cold fry
And laugh at how it tastes by now
The waiter kills the last table candle
You say, "Tell me what you're scared about"

Look up, baby, look up
Leave the whole world outside this cup
No big speech, no fixing us
Just ten honest minutes, look up

We weren't busy, we were hiding
From the sentence underneath
This ring of water kept on spreading
Like the part of us we couldn't name or see
You say, "If this feels fragile, say it"
I say, "It does, but I'm still here"
Then the room goes quiet for a heartbeat
And your hand finds mine without a screen between

Look up, baby, look up
Let the last chair scrape, let the night come up
No big speech, we can tell the truth
Ten more minutes, me and you
Look up, baby, look up
Put the whole world down, let me see you close
If this is fragile, we'll hold it slow
Ten more minutes, don't let go

Look up
No rush, stay here
Look up
I'm listening