Hidden in the ashes
a crumpled heap emerges
black and bruised,
limping blindly through
a cloud of smoke.

Consumed by her own
self-induced disaster
she chokes on
what could've been
and what's left.

Through the fog
an errant memory
pierces her heart.

He asks, "Would you?"

She closes her eyes
before she falls again
and through the pain, says,
"Not even if you were the
last man on Earth
because
these things always end badly."