Flame (Notevember 2022, #5)

“Don’t go back!”
You warned me
“Don’t go back yet again”
You tell me I don’t remember the half of it
The good seared into my skull
The bad drifted away like ash on the wind
Toxic nostalgia
Living in the past so that I only survive in the present
Blinded by the cozy embers of the hearth
As the walls crack and the ceiling comes crashing down
“Turn around and see!”
 
I thought they would warm to me
Loyalty, diligence, work ethic
Oh, how they leaned on me
Leaned, but didn’t like
Leaned, but didn’t laugh
Leaned, until I lay at their feet
When we failed our turnaround
I dutifully took the heat
And was fired for it
 
And there you were
All aglow
Tiredly tossing tinder aside
Sparks flew for everyone else
But it was your turn this time around
And me?
I was a bucket of gasoline
Who had finally met my match
So long suffocating
Ready to explode but deprived of oxygen
Now breathing free
 
So we walked away
From jobs that were just time sold too cheaply
Families that were merely kin
Homes that were only houses
Burned our bridges
Scorched earth tactics
And all was a light
More clever than Eurydice
You were beside me
When we turned around
And watched Hell go up in flames.
Then walked on…