Deep Cover Bands

The conversations of mates,

In all the senses of mate,

Tend to accrue over time

Sarcasm so thick it could

Be diagnosed as morbid

Obesity, but somehow

It’s still mistaken for svelte

Sincerity. What matters

Is the fitness of the song

In competition after

The original singer

Has molecularly gone.

The warbling of true partners

Persists, although the partners

To each other proved untrue.

You sit on some outdoor bench

Or at some cafe table

Or perch on an overlook,

And you hear the warbling, live

Or recorded from gone throats,

And you long for such longing

While rarely considering

How insincere the singer,

How daring the clever song.