Lyric

The table was longer than memory

White cloth, cold fruit, candle flame

Your name stood folded beside the glass

In somebody else’s careful hand

I greeted you softly at seven

Took your coat, never asked where you had been

The guests were arranged like witnesses

Each one polished, each one clean

You laughed before the first course came

As if the room had no teeth

But something waited under paper

Flat and quiet, folded small

A truth dressed up for dinner

With your handwriting on it all

You reached for the wine too quickly

When I mentioned her old address

I watched your fingers hesitate

Then return to perfect rest

The soup was served in silver

The story entered with the steam

You asked who made the seating chart

I said, “Someone who still can read”

Your smile survived the candles

But not the empty chair

Because something waited under paper

Not a threat, not a scene

Just a date, a room, a promise

You swore had never been

Then she arrived in black

No announcement, no perfume

Every fork went still

Every window lost the moon

I lifted your place card gently

Like mercy had a lid

The Evidence Beneath the Place Card

Was everything you did

Now nothing waited under paper

Nothing needed to be said

Your name collapsed beside the glass

And the whole table understood instead

I thanked you for coming

I asked if you enjoyed the wine

You left without your coat

But the proof stayed behind