music

he always plays the piano when he argues with his girl,
a light staccato jollity,
takes the seriousness and vitriol
out of everything said in a red mist haste.

he always plays the piano when he makes excited plans with his girl,
slow mournful melancholy minors,
a watery lento spreading like a pool of ink
that dampens and calms the overexcited,
dreamlike tones that talk of unrealistic dreams,
future fictions unwritten in fate.

he always plays the piano when they've got nothing to say -
modal glissandos neither major or minor
that exacerbate the mundanity of a lost - gone - diminuendo relationship
where the shopping list is the most important conversation
and the biggest arguments over lost socks.

he plays the saxophone now.