Inferno

This is a sestina, a fixed verse form consisting of 6 stanzas of 6 lines each, followed by a 3 line envoi. The words that end each line of the first stanza are used as line endings in a set pattern.

The smoldering embers of our love

 lie dormant in the forge of my heart, awaiting your return.

Their radiant glow keeps me warm, tempering your absence with comfort.

I wait, knowing the embers will never die;

until your presence stirs my heartbeat

which fans the fuel and re-ignites the flames.

 

The fading heat of the dwindling flames

is just enough to keep the promise of our love

slowly simmering; gently stirred with each lonely heartbeat.

As I sit solitary, anticipating your return,

I feed the fire with the tinder and kindling of our memories so that it will not die

and I can continue to bask in its glowing comfort.

 

Where once your strong, loving arms provided me comfort,

now there are only shimmering coals, devoid of flames

which left untended will surely die.

I bank the smoldering ashes of our love,

stoking them occasionally with thoughts of your return;

longing for that day with every fluttering heartbeat.

 

Without the bellows of my heartbeat

there will be no glowing hearth, no comfort,

no embers to fan into life upon your return.

I wait, warmed by the memory of the white-hot flames

that is the passion of our love;

knowing that the heat of the cinders is too feverish to die.

 

This constant tending keeps the fire from dying

as I listen for the sound of your heartbeat,

yearning to once again feel the blazing heat of your love.

Thoughts of our bodies entwined in satisfying comfort

easily rekindles the flames,

keeping the fire smoldering steadily until your return.

 

Sparks fly into life upon your return.

I survived the absence of your love and I did not die!

The sight of your eyes is oxygen to the flames.

Your presence stirs my heartbeat

which fans the embers that have been providing me reassuring comfort

and re-ignites the raging inferno that is our love.

 

Awaiting your return; listening for the sound of your heartbeat.

The glowing embers of our love do not die, they provide me a warming comfort

until the flames are once again stoked into the inferno that is our love.