Dust

Dust

by Michael R. Burch

Flame within flame, 

we burned and burned relentlessly

till there was nothing left to be consumed.

Only ash remained, the smoke plumed

like a spirit leaving its corpse, and we

were left with only a name

ever common between us.

We had thought to love "eternally, "

but the wick sputtered, the candle swooned, 

the flame subsided, the smoke ballooned, 

and our commonest thought was: flee, flee, flee

the choking dust.

Keywords/Tags: love, relationship, relationships, divorce, parting, separation, loneliness, alienation, grief, sorrow, lost love, loss, lost, dust, ash, ashes