Our friendship went up in flames
Because I set it on fire and watched it burn
And now my eyes are bleary from the ash,
Pained from the duration
Blood shot
Open for hours? Days?
Reading and rereading the words
It makes the most sense to just erase
What’s left to hold on to?
All the other casual reminders that used to lay about
Are now relegated to a small space
On a high shelf
In a less-than-often thought of closet
They don’t seem strange-
Those empty spaces
Time has erased feeling off the walls
Or they are so used to comings and goings
They’ve fortified themselves against impermanence
However, their blankness traps me in-
In with the essence of you
That lingers
Like the smoke