Jaime's Ballad

Jaime slammed on pop
Time to douse his ears

Together, together…. Together
They had been together

But over their beach holiday
just last week, they’d scrabbled

over who’d do the dishes,
pay for meals, walk the pooch

Two years, they’d been together

Most of all, they split
over Jaime’s aims to be a star

The star
The greatest voice of the zeitgeist

Jaime was mostly certain
that was what “zeitgeist” meant

They sliced in two over whether
Jaime should focus on work instead

Sure, work
The best way to snuff creative flames

And, a few days after
they returned to the city,

they were two, on two orbits
No longer one, stitched each to each

Jaime sighed
Now he would need a job anyway

It’s not like his parents
would help, oh no, no, no

Not now he was twenty-six

A full adult, on paper
as they so often sighed at him

Jaime had already started to apply
for roles in hospitality or retail

He’d blood-sworn he’d never again
And now he was

His songs only ever
notched hundreds of listens

on SoundCloud and Spotify
Those corporate gobblers

The nude truth was
Jaime had envisaged more

at this juncture
(he’d look up if that was what “juncture” meant)

But no matter, no, no
He’d just keep singing

Keep battling to spread
his no longer so young voice

Keep searching for that voice
he was always meant to duet with