Ashes in the Rain

Ashes in the Rain

The night blinked twice

before swallowing the neon,

and the alley exhaled

something sour

Something like regret,

But, wearing lipstick smudged by 2am.

She walked in,

heels slicing the silence,

with eyes like razors, and a

voice full of velvet threat.

She said she had lost something.

She said it mattered.

I didn’t ask what.

The city always kept score,

but the dice were rigged.

and truth wore a trench coat

and was sat in the back booth,

ordering bourbon neat

with a side of misdirection.

I followed the scent

of betrayal’s perfume,

Yes -

There were notes of gin,

gunpowder,

and guilt.

Every streetlamp flickered

like it knew the ending

but it was clear they wouldn’t talk.

There was a letter:

half-burned,

half-true.

There was a map

with no destination,

just detours dressed as promises.

Yes,

Promises.

Promises that probably would not be kept.

And when the rain came,

it didn’t cleanse.

It just whispered.

It hissed like reels unwinding,

like a film catching fire

before the credits rolled.

I lit one last cigarette,

watching the smoke curl

into a question mark.

She had gone.

The city was still

spinning stories

and I

was left there alone.

Still listening

Trying to figure out what was next.

Thoughts puddled and muddled by the brewing storm.

A case that called for a pause.

I sighed like

I had no choice

And flicked the cigarette away.

It was time to dance with danger once again.