Are We Ashes?

A rondeau

(Photo by Hunter So on Unsplash)

Has our flame died to nothing more

than grey ashes from fading coal?

For your love has dwindled down

like a candle that’s been blown out,

turning fiery nights frigid cold.

I dig through dust, sifting in hopes

of finding embers still aglow

but in this wreckage, nothing’s found,

Has our flame died?

It’s hard to breathe in clouds of smoke,

my lungs beg of me to let go

my heart agrees, so it’s time now

that I rise from smoldering ground

for in your silence I have found

our flame has died.