All fizzled smiles and cloudy, homeless stares,
Whose frequent flickers once made you aware
Of 'live but long since buried joy and pain;
Whose flames have been extinguished yet again.

A mound of frozen ash, of lifeless dregs
Persists in corners of your mind and begs
From time to time for pity, look or touch
But doesn't seem to make the breakthrough much:

All ash is dead, can never be reborn,
Remains inert, receiving only scorn
For long-incinerated memories or loves,
Burnt carelessly, thrown in from gardener's gloves
Which raked them up in chilly autumn haste
And couldn't see their sparkle in the waste.

So emeralds and sapphires burst apart;
The diamond shrapnel pierced his ruby heart
And winter's damp and rotten trash piled on,
To mask still further how it all went wrong.

The winter silence lies upon him now;
Stability does not even allow
A wisp or molten patch to indicate
Where fiery lust burnt down a decade's wait.