Poem: When The Music’s Over

A poem about recognising — too late — the clue that things in common are no longer ‘common.

He gave up on music really, and that
should have been the clue — I shouldn’t
have excused many of his other behaviours
and I’m not sure that I did. But the way
he just gave up on music, didn’t care
what was playing, stopped trying to play,
that was enough of a sign; our true common
interest over, gone. Tossed behind him
like the previous night’s bad memories, two
dozen empties and the crumpled foil.

We no longer had anything to talk about.