Up in Smoke

Your words
ended
an 18 year
love affair
we'd had
in my mind
and now
my thoughts
are empty.

I have nothing
to say
but I can feel
the embers
of hope
still burning.

The phone rings
and there you are
again
like nothing
happened
and I just sit
quietly
and listen
as you talk
about yourself
like you always did.

For you,
everything
is the same.
I wish
it was that way
for me, too.
But the life
we could've had
went up in smoke
like feathers of hope
on fire.

I'd be a liar
if I said
everything was fine,
so I say nothing,
like always,
like my heart
is whole
and beating strong
in my chest
instead
of ash
floating
in the wind.