The Flame That Stayed

I called you in silence, but silence replied,

Ashling flared, and you closed your eyes.

I held the fire, but not the truth,

And lost the only light I knew.

They said I burned you, said I broke,

But you were the ember in every stroke.

I carved your name in sigil flame,

Afraid to speak, afraid of shame.

But you stayed—

In every flare, in every fall,

In every sleepless firelit hall.

You stayed—

Not to , but to forgive,

To show me how to burn and live.

I see you now, not as a ghost,

But as the flame I feared the most.

Not punishment, not , not past—

But love that learned to last.

You stayed—

In Ashling’s eyes, in every spark,

In every step I took through dark.

You stayed—

And now I rise, not to forget,

But to remember, without regret.