The Other Night

They asked me if I’d seen the band,

the one that played downtown.

I said, “Oh yeah, I was there, man,

didn’t like that awful sound.”

And they all nodded, laughing then,

remembering the crowd.

How we all left before the end,

said it out loud.

But I was home, the curtains drawn,

a fever in my head.

Listening to some old sad song,

tucked safe inside my bed.

The sticky floor, the distant lights,

the chatter I rehearsed.

Just me alone on those loud nights,

my own small truth dispersed.