Brass gears turn slow in basement light
Pixel ghosts glow through the glass tonight
My master's watch ticks steady in my palm
But down here seconds lose their calm
Quarter past the clock forgets to chime
Quarter past synth chords bloom like wine
We count in beats not hours or days
Bathe in the glow of cathode rays
Pizzicato strings pluck wires in the dark
Felt piano hums a hymn's remark
Modular blips baptize my fingertips
Wooden percussion counts my heart's eclipse
Claustrophobia melts in eight-bit grace
Velvet warmth wraps this hollow space
Alto breath finds room between the beats
Where tension dissolves in sweet retreat
Quarter past the clock forgets to chime
Quarter past synth chords bloom like wine
We count in beats not hours or days
Bathe in the glow of cathode rays
The master waits upstairs with oil and cloth
While I kneel at a cathode altar's troth
Each game over screens a small resurrection
Insert coin receive benediction
Hallelujah in a high score sky
Walking bass lines guide me to the door
But I'll return when midnight strikes once more
This sanctuary built of light and sound
Where stolen time is finally found
Quarter past the clock forgets to chime
Quarter past synth chords bloom like wine
We count in beats not hours or days
Bathe in the glow of cathode rays
Quarter past quarter past grace aligns
Mmm quarter past the hour chimes
Time holds its breath in pixel light
