Where There’s Smoke

A Poem

Photo by Jessica Christian on Unsplash

i could have laid out the pages,
but it wouldn’t have made a difference
in the long game of it all
because i was already losing.

they say where there’s smoke there’s fire —
and i was catching with it, alight,
as if my heart had become a volcano
ready to spew lava at just one glance.

and i wanted to be yours,
i can’t deny it,
even though you already
had someone to hold.

i could have written down the words —
but what would it have mattered
because i was already miserable,
consumed by thoughts of you.

they say where there’s smoke there’s fire —
and i was drowning in it, choking,
as if my body had become the enemy
all because i looked your way one night.

and i wanted nothing more
than to touch you
across the distance,
even despite the wrongness.