i see you in smoke rafters the beams, the cigarette butts falling between the grates

i see you in the stillness of candles, the slow burn, the flickering of desire

i see you in music and every time i pick up my dusty guitar the ashes fall off and you linger in the shine

i see you standing there.

i see our breakdown, i hear you say “you just told me you didn’t love me” i hear the break in your voice

i feel it die in my chest

you sit hunched over in that familiar position with your boots on, staring at the floor

i see flowers i see ashes i see the light that once was, the sun how it shone when i heard your voice

i see you in street corners. alleyways. the fleeting glance of a stranger rushing by

i see gray. the dull pain, the end.