[Intro]

Whiteboard by the coffee stand.
Black print. Clean boxes.
Nothing added yet.

[Verse 1]

Monday, board was clean,
three lines under “verified.”
Tuesday brings a blue arrow
squeezed along the side.
“Live event — confirmed feed,”
tight against the frame.
Ben reads it with half a grin
and leaves it where it came.

[Chorus]

Exceptions in blue marker,
squeezed between the lines.
One more note for one more case,
one more “just this time.”
Exceptions in blue marker,
the rules are still in sight.
Leave it till somebody clears it —
nobody does tonight.

[Verse 2]

Noon brings an official statement,
name and source both checked.
Waiting through the longer cycle
puts Current one step back.
An editor takes the marker,
hooks a note beside the row.
“Same checks, different timing.”
Ben says, “Here we go.”

[Verse 3]

Friday, another story moves
faster than the board allows.
Adrian checks the threshold,
then looks back at the clock.
“Core facts solid? Send the first.”
No grand rewrite tonight.
The blue cap rolls beneath a chair.
The new note stays in sight.

[Chorus]

Exceptions in blue marker,
squeezed between the lines.
One more note for one more case,
one more “just this time.”
Exceptions in blue marker,
the rules are still in sight.
Leave it till somebody clears it —
nobody does tonight.

[Guitar Solo]

[Bridge]

Half-erased date in the corner,
Friday written over Monday.
First exception still there.
Nobody crossed it out.
Ben reaches for the cloth,
then sets it down again.
Temporary, Ben thinks,
can last all week.

[Final Chorus]

Exceptions in blue marker,
crowding out the space.
Printed rules in tidy rows,
blue arrows through the gaps.
Exceptions in blue marker,
still called case by case.
Leave them till somebody clears them —
now they have their place.

[Outro]

Whiteboard under evening light.
Blue marker on the tray.
Cap still off.
Still there.
