I told myself it slipped.
That I just let go.
Seven roses hit the floor
Red against the dark wood grain
Stems crossed like broken veins
Reaching for a pulse I’d already drained
I was tired of wanting you
Tired of needing something back
So I brought the flame closer
Watched the petals crack
One split clean down the center
Heat drew lines I couldn’t erase
Another clung to what was dying
Refused to leave its place
One bent under memory
One braced before the burn
One stood rigid far too long
Until it had to turn
One reached for warmth I’d taken away
Tore itself in two
And I told myself
I was done with you
So I let them burn
Let the red turn black
Let the smoke erase
Everything I lack
I let them burn
Watched them fall apart
If I killed the color
I could kill the heart
But something stayed
Through ash and wire
Something breathing
In the fire
The room tasted sweet and metallic
Sugar and iron in the air
They collapsed into cinder
Like they were never there
I thought if I burned the red
There’d be nothing left to feel
Nothing left that answered
To something real
But in the center of the ruin
Bone-pale in the smoke
One rose stayed open
And that’s when I broke
It felt the heat
It felt the strain
White drawn thin
Over hidden pain
Not untouched.
Not divine.
Just barely
Still alive.
I let them burn
I watched them die
Thought if love was ash
I wouldn’t have to try
I let them burn
Thought I’d be free
But something in the fire
Refused to leave me
Still breathing
Still fragile
Still wired
BREAKDOWN
Ash remembers.
Heat returns.
Glitch echo:
“Burn — burn — burn —”
You can scorch the surface
You can blacken the bloom
But some things survive
Even you.
Bass hit.
I DIDN’T MEAN TO SAVE IT!
I DIDN’T MEAN TO CARE!
I TRIED TO KILL THE COLOR
BUT YOU WERE STILL THERE!
I BROUGHT THE FLAME CLOSER!
I WANTED IT GONE!
BUT LOVE WON’T DIE
JUST BECAUSE IT’S WRONG!
What survived the fire
Wasn’t mercy
Wasn’t strength
Wasn’t pride
It was love
Still breathing
Still breaking
Still mine
I could have crushed it
Let it expire
But I didn’t.
What survived the fire
Was love.
And it’s entirely my fault.
Everknown_
