Mixtape

Side A June '84 Blue ink fading through the plastic case A girl's name Not my mother's One corner peeled From years in drawers Three songs marked twice One circled slow Maybe he stopped there Every night alone A soft click Then room noise Someone coughing Far behind The tape bends low On quieter tones Like tired hands Holding pause too long Mixtape Never sent Your name sleeping Inside magnetic dust Mixtape Still turning For someone Who never came back Track seven worn thin By too many rewinds I wait for a reason Nothing arrives Only small gaps Between the songs Like things he buried Without enough words Maybe you left town Maybe he stayed here Maybe this room Still sounded the same Maybe these songs Said everything Too hard to place Inside his mouth Mixtape Never sent Your name fading Through magnetic dust Mixtape Still turning For someone Who never heard Side B Side B ends Without goodbye Just the motor turning Into empty noise