The door creaks at 7:03
You always opened it that way
I changed the lock, but not the sound
Some habits choose to stay
I stopped buying your kind of tea
But it shows up in the bag
The shelf still leans like it needs
Your books to make it back
No photos, no frames
But everything else
Still calls your name
The room remembers you
In corners I don’t clean
In mirrors that distort the truth
In light that bends too mean
I walk through like I belong
But the windows hum your song
You’re gone — that much is true
But the room
Remembers you
I speak less than I used to
Your silence trained me well
Even the clock ticks slower now
Like it’s got no one left to tell
Your shoes are gone
But space is carved
Where they used to start the day
The room remembers you
In drawers I never touch
In switches I still flick for two
In pillows keeping hush
I sit down without intent
Still lean the way you went
You left — and I withdrew
But the room
Remembers you
I rent this place alone, they say
But memory
Pays half the way
The room remembers you
Even when I try not to
It folds you into quiet air
Like you're just upstairs
I won’t beg, I won’t resume
But I breathe in every room
And it smells like something true
Because the room
Remembers you