The room starts to shrink as the lights dim to only the small flicker
of the candle flame. The water won’t seem to go
hot enough even as the temperature continues to
increase until it’s hotter than the fire burning the wax.
    I stand there trying to convince
myself that the water will wash away
the circles under my eyes as the water
        turns cold.
But it’s a lie.
       The water won’t do anything but
cause my fingers to go wrinkly.
I take a deep breath and exhale as the candle flame
      disappears.
With nothing visible,
the water finally turns cold as it continues to drip
from my fingertips.
The circles won’t disappear like the flame did;
         the water won’t turn hot again.
As the light diminished from the wick,
the sparkle vanished from your eyes.
The glimmer of hope from the flame evaporated
    into the atmosphere.
The lights went out and I realized that we’re always going to be stuck
                    in the same darkness.