Once a living fire
Now a dying fire

There lingered a poor ember among the ashes
Poker in my hand, I stoked the fading flames
Just to behold a weak burst of light
With no force of will of its own

I set the poker down beside me
And watched the final flicker
Transfixed on what remained
Its last breath reflected in diamonds brimming

Without my hand it dies
And shivering, I close my eyes
A single tear escapes like a creek
Down a dry bed of cheek

Light extinguished
Darkness anguished

I heard you thinking on the other side.  And the flashes of neurons left me thunderstruck when your words boomed.

All men think they know what is love,
For heat burns heat into a fire.
'Tis not a heat that fuels some passions,
But a song of night into the cool cool night.
Wafting and drifting wind awakes,
Delicious air strokes the senses,
A new eye is stirred and twinkling, hushed.
Two can dream under a starry blanket
And gaze one to another freely unhidden
As words unspoken are known unbidden.
Thoughts bend down striving to bestow,
And inspiration lifts its chin unafraid to meet,
Yet even as the gifts are granted they know
A thousand kisses are not enough.

How much sting can a memory hold?
What halls my heart had walked
Between its columns a warmth and I,
Happy in the company of known things:
Whispers in the secret chambers,
Delight in solitude but for you.

The bitter cold,
The hollow shell,
Giving a semblance and structure to that which once was.
Flown is the fleeting sun;
The days were numbered.
Here, the ebb and tide of many tears brought a sting upon this
   beach of skin,
Washed ashore drifting bones and dead things -
The flesh has rot
What once was alive and beautiful -
And left the deep ache of memory
Of a home now lost.