August air carries hot embers into the heavens

Burned

All of the moments you gave me are ash

I watch as the last remaining flickers of our time together drifts into the atmosphere

Suppose it was another time

And you could speak honestly

Would we still end like this?

If you could have admitted you loved me, instead of feeling shame thinking on our wedding day

Or would you and I have become those two old men we joked of when we were new to each other?

Would we drink wine while your tired hands attempted to play your guitar?

Would the yard be filled with grandchildren?

Would we look back on our youth and be thankful we made it to the end, together?

Or would I suffer tenfold what I do now?

If you had been truthful and exposed this love

How much more time would I have been given to call you mine?

Was it ever me, I wonder

The smoke fills my lungs

I am stone

These eyes see the flames

Suffocating years of my life squandered

But heart has grieved this moment for weeks before it came to pass

One last goodbye

I throw you away

The last picture of us bubbles and breaks

A crack of thunder above

I am joyless

That was all I had left to give

You are free

Goodbye my ‘wasn’t meant to be’