I Saw You Once

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I Saw You Once

By Cerisse Madlangbayan

The crowd was loud,

But where there mouth was moving

Their eyes remained blind

And their ears unhearing

You sat there hunched on your piano

Eyes closed to shut the sweat and wasted tears

Extracting your nethermost voice

For no one in particular to hear

I closed my eyes and sat still

Pretending the doleful song was mine

Bodies moved around me in haste

But I liked to think your words stopped time

Heartbreak streamed down

From your fingertips to the keys

While no one turned around to listen,

The tremor in my chest wouldn’t cease

You aimed for blithe in your refrains,

Which you ensnared when your song began

But you’ve captured more than a few coins

Thrown here and there in a tin can

They say you can’t afford

Affection with one sight

But woe to me, I reckon,

For I was beguiled that night

Alas, when it ended,

You glided through the tide

While I was shoved back

To my dimly lit corner with a fight

You will never know or love me

And I shan’t ever meet you again

Strange, I’ve loved and lost in mere minutes

When oblivious are you till the end