Do you listen…?

Do you take the time

To listen to the songs, to the words,

Written by poets

That are lost in their thoughts?

Do you remember my middle name?

The one that you were so curious to say

Out loud, on a spring day… a Saturday,

When we were waiting outside in the rain

Or the name of my hometown?

The one you wanted me to show you around

And the neighbourhood I once loved

When I was just a teenage girl

Do you still count to seven?

When you lose your temper

Or when you just cannot remember

How many months are left till December

Did you smile yesterday?

When you heard the album they played

At 9 am, on Radio 4.24 FM

Did it make you wonder where time has gone again?

The evening we were waiting for the train

But it got delayed,

Do you remember that I was singing along with the man

Who was playing his guitar for some change?

For some change in the way we think,

In our tamed desires to speak

Out loud, in a crowd,

To listen when there’s no sound…

What song were we singing?

What were the lyrics, the rhythm,

The feeling we felt

When the song came to an end?

Do you remember my voice?

The change in tone when I’d get lost

The hesitant questions I’d ask

The countless hours we’d talk

And when I would speak my language

On the phone, to my friend…

Do you remember how I paid attention

To the way you’d listen to us… till the end?