Out of Tune

A slow bass line comes through the radio

Low enough to shake the door

The engine's off, the parking lot

Is almost empty now

Our route is still saved on the screen

Beside the date we chose

I leave it there another minute

Then turn the brightness down

The reservation's in my email

Friday still beside your name

I don't erase it in the parking lot

I just put the phone away

We went out of tune

Somewhere after making plans

Your name still sits beside a date

I know we won't be keeping

The radio stays low

The bass runs under both my hands

I turn the key and let the engine

Break the quiet where I am

The station slips into another song

I don't reach for the dial

The bass line changes underneath me

I let it run a while

The heater clicks against the cold

My coffee's gone untouched

A truck pulls slowly from the lot

Its red lights disappear

I clear the route from the screen

The station keeps on playing

The numbers on the dashboard fade

As daylight reaches in

The passenger belt moves beside me

As I pull out of the space

I almost reach across to catch it

Then leave it where it sways

We went out of tune

Somewhere after making plans

Your name still sits beside a date

I know we won't be keeping

The radio stays low

The bass runs under both my hands

I turn the key and let the engine

Break the quiet where I am

The sun comes up behind the warehouses

A pale stripe on the glass

I stop beside the river

Where the coffee window's open

The cashier asks, “Just one today?”

I nod before I think

One paper cup beside the change

Then I pull back into traffic

The turn we used to take comes up

A little past the light

For half a second my hand shifts

Before I keep the wheel straight

The bass comes through the back of the seat

A truck moves up beside me

The turn slips out of the mirror

Before the next one comes

I stop again at another red

The song is nearly done

My coffee moves inside the cup

When traffic starts to run

We went out of tune

The route is gone from the screen

The date is still there in my phone

I haven't cleared that yet

The radio stays low

The bass keeps moving through the car

I pass the turn we used to take

And don't go back around

The song ends near the river

The speakers settle down

For a few seconds it's just the tires

And morning through the glass