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.