When does a relationship actually end? When is someone actually gone? According to Taylor Swift, Lissa Soep, and Mikhal Bakhtin, the answer is more complicated than anything we might configure. Let’s dive into Taylor Swift first because I could not help but obsessively listen to her songs “from the Vault,” especially those from 1989. I listened to Now That We Don’t Talk on a loop for five hours while wandering through the Houston Fine Arts Museum – which I would highly recommend. Is It Over Now? came on while I was driving to work, and it made me cry in a way I did not expect. It made me think of a book I had just finished. It reminded me of two good friends who I do not speak to and will probably never speak to again. It reminded me of my mother.

---

“Was it over when she laid down on your couch?
Was it over when he unbuttoned my blouse?
“Come here,” I whispered in your ear.
In your dream as you passed out, baby.
Was it over then? And is it over now?”

---