6. Keep the Fire Burning

[gunwithoutmusic]

"Embers"
166 words. Estimated reading time: 49 seconds.

I won’t say, “I’ll never
Forgive you for this”
(Though that was the phrase
That my brain was screaming),
But my famously abundant
Patience wears thin,

Especially on days when
Solitude is in short supply,
Which—let’s be honest—
Is most days anymore,
Since you made a decision
That affected more than you.

I detest making
Molehills out of ant mounds
(Or mountains out of molehills,
For that matter),
But even the smallest thing
Can be magnified

If we look at it long enough,
Live with it long enough,
Tolerate it long enough.
Ant mounds become mountains,
And still manage to shock us
With their gradual transformation.

Through all of this,
I’ve tried to keep the spark,
To nurture the embers
That glow in my hands
In the tiny nest of kindling,
Begging to stay alive.

Through all of this,
A touch, a glance, a smile,
A few whispered words
To breathe life into
Something that I sometimes
Feel slipping away.

Through all of this,
Your hands hold mine,
Your breath holds steady,
And your eyes speak
As if to say just one thing:
“I’m sorry.”

I only hope that
We can re-ignite,
When much-needed solitude
Returns to us both,
And that the embers we
So desperately cling to

Do not fade away in smoke.

Comments

[adoptedwriter]

Hoping for the best outcome for your relationship. Take care.

[gunwithoutmusic]

Thank you - luckily it's a situation we are facing together so we're able to support each other in it and I'm trying not to be too annoyed at my husband about getting us into it the first place... It's just a weird thing where good intentions don't always have the best of results and I'm hopeful that we can stay working on it together and not let it divide us like we've seen happen to some friends. :)

[erulissedances]

Relationships are like a dance where you're constantly having to learn new steps. It can be incredibly difficult, but usually is worth the effort. Thanks for writing this.

- Erulisse (one L)

[gunwithoutmusic]

Thank you - it's a strange situation we find ourselves in and it's not really fair to assign any sort of blame, but I'm hoping that we will come out of it stronger as long as we both keep making the effort. We've been through worse before, where we've been on opposing ends of something, and this time we're both on the same side, so I am hopeful everything will be okay. But this is what I enjoy the most about writing, getting to put pen to paper and exorcise those thoughts that haunt me sometimes.