Love’s Ashes
I couldn’t dare to speak to my heart
how you are absent in mere presence
swarms of prescribed bottles, tablets
your sick, waning muscles and bones
your once dreamy eyes devoid of spark
your frail frame bound to home
then bed and nursing care
our baby rising to adolescence
your salary just enough
to quench your medical bills
my unwilling grab of a job
to support, nurture a dreary future
your body’s rare disorders swelling ,
spectrum of love blotted bit by bit
still rich in colours, perfectly agitated
in a drab looking concoction,
dissolved in this erratic drink
me, you suffocated by total calm
pain clogged awkwardly as snow
in love’s green outstretched arms,
I can’t delete from my memories
those romantic walks hand in hand,
buoyancy now sodden, roses putrefying
my stylish dresses buried in depths
with fairy strings of honeymoon photos,
my forehead adorned with vermilion dot
our dreams spilled on sheets, floor
like cigarettes half burnt yet not smoked
passive, dispassionate, dejected
bearing with the mockery of destiny
daily fragmentation of a marriage
that was woven in togetherness
‘Together unto death’ but
life slowly maybe splitting us apart
poignancy wicking scent of flowers
yet the petals are turgid, breathing
hold them firm with ailing, weary fingers
please don’t leave me forlorn
cinders of fondness glow magically
love’s ashes soft, alkaline, warm.
Era Garg January 2023
In response to the Saturday prompt ‘Words breaking up’ by J.D. Harms in Scrittura.
The prompt might bring to the surface many heartbreaks and separations. My piece narrates a breakup anticipated in future. Thanks J.D. Harms for touching sensitive strings with subtlety. I am short of words for praising the wonderful prompt.
You may find the link to the prompt here
