Tiny table in the corner

Your coffee going cold

You laugh into your collar

Like there’s something you won’t hold

My fingers find the first note

You tilt your head, then stay

One deep breath, then I promise

I’ll play the doubt away

I’ll play my clarinet so you’ll never forget it

Every bend, every breath, every slide, don’t you let it

Slip from your mind, from your heart, don’t regret it

I’ll play my clarinet so you’ll never forget it

You trace circles on the coaster

Lost inside the tone

I pour stories through the reed now

Things I’ve never said out loud

Your eyes shining in the half-light

Like you’re hearing future plans

Every run a little secret

Dancing right out of my hands

If you leave when the lights come up

You’ll still hum this on your way

Every phrase a little postcard

From the night we didn’t waste

So when you’re far from this corner

And the room’s gone quiet too

That low, sweet line in your memory?

That’s me, playing back to you