.

I didn't ask
you already knew I needed to hear it
but your eyes didn't blink.

They stayed affixed,
unvexed by it,
preoccupied with the wisps of embers
picked up by the rising warmth.
As if it were a pyre,
the silence you gave was more condolent than wistful.

You tossed a handful of sand into the fire
to watch it crackle and plume
or be smothered.