Twelve forty-three on the kitchen clock
The city glows beyond the glass
A coffee cup beside the piano
One light still left on

I play the song we always stopped before
The one without an ending
Dust settles on the music stand
The coffee cup has gone cold
The room answers with its echo

Some notes stay longer than they should
Floating above the keys
I listen after every chord
As if something might reply

The piano after midnight
Still knows where your part begins
Some melodies remember people
Better than photographs do
Silence can sing in two voices

A jacket hangs behind the door
Exactly where it shouldn't be
The coffee cup beside the piano
Has left a ring on the wood
Outside, a taxi passes slowly

Maybe no one hears these songs
Beyond these apartment walls
Maybe that's never been the point
Maybe the notes just need the air

The piano after midnight
Still knows where your part begins
Some melodies remember people
Better than photographs do
Silence can sing in two voices

The coffee cup beside the piano
The last chord crossing the room
Notes drifting through the apartment
Like a duet
Missing one chair