Ashes

Burn the books
Let the smoke rise
to the night I can’t see
into the breath I can’t feel
Paper to words to ashes
Burning my eyes
Indelible print
written inside
flesh, feeling, fleeting
Stories on fire
Years long gone
scripted before the newborn cry
Ink on paper
footprints we left behind
A backlight
as I’m walking away
leaving emptiness
to with the ashes lay.