My Favorite Song

You ruined my favorite song.

You ruined it just by calling it “ours.”

Because after that day,

I started listening to the words differently.


As something we shared they carried new meaning.

The words were no longer waiting to be filled by an experience.  

They were already whole. They were

Promises hanging in the air like strings of Christmas lights. 


I remember the time you told me

our song came on over the loud speaker.

The words danced around you,

And you were so moved that it brought you to tears.


Those words felt so overpowering.

 To mean something that strongly.

To love someone that completely.

I understood exactly how you felt.


This morning it played in my car on the way to work.

It was well into the chorus when I realized I was crying.

I forgot how it felt to be forgotten.

How the words echo when they are empty.


When they no longer fit inside of your mouth.

I forgot how many promises had  to be broken;

How many lights had to flicker out

to lose a favorite song to an almost lover.