Hands Off the Wheel

Hands Off the Wheel

Parked outside your old address
Both hands white around the wheel
Porch light glowing through the curtain
Like it knows exactly how I feel
I tell myself one knock is nothing
One hello can't erase a year
Then my body remembers everything
And wanting starts to sound like fear

Desire is real
So are consequences

Hands Off the Wheel, breathe before I turn
Hands Off the Wheel, wanting does not mean return
Wanting you isn't permission to undo myself
Hands Off the Wheel, put the old key on the shelf

Porch light clicks off without warning
Street gets ordinary again
Nobody comes through the doorway
No music tells me how this ends
I sit there till my breathing slows
Then start the car and drive away
Not because I stopped wanting you
Because wanting does not get to choose the way

Hands Off the Wheel, breathe before I turn
Hands Off the Wheel, wanting does not mean return
Wanting you isn't permission to undo myself
Hands Off the Wheel, put the old key on the shelf

I once called losing control
Proof that love was still alive
Wanting you isn't permission to undo myself
Both hands gripping the steering wheel told the story

Hands Off the Wheel, now both hands are calm
Hands Off the Wheel, no need to sound the alarm
Wanting you isn't permission to undo myself
Hands Off the Wheel, I choose somewhere else

Hands Off the Wheel