Tremulous trills

Tremulous trills

Barely uttered

Words caught in the throat

The emotion

Of the song apposite

Even the mechanics

Of breathing are affected

Lungs flutter when

Air is in short supply

A Pneumothorax

A total collapse

Voices break

So easily

As tears fall

Reality is a gift

But all of the sad songs

The heartbreakers

Sung by torch singers

Old favourites

Lovers dance to

Cheek to cheek

Bring lonely people

To their knees

In the hollow

Of an empty room

When the music plays

It takes them back

To the golden days

Before the chord

Was broken

When every note

Touched the heart

Left it

Pure and tender

As to render it

Too fragile to withstand

The strain

Of listening again

Without breaking

Along the seam

And releasing

The memory of

A long lost dream

Enough to conjure

A moment

To allow for

The fleeting presence

Of an old feeling

So longed for

Will it withstand

The hearing

And the singing

One more time

Just one more time.