The Silence After Fire

by Malkeet Kaur

When their worlds collided,

the air thickened -

sparks caught on skin,

and the night held its breath.

He, the dark lord of reason;

She, the Titian goddess of defiance.

At dusk, they forgot themselves,

their names melting into touch.

At dawn, they woke -

half whole, half gone.

They explored each other

as though discovery could save them,

as though love were not

a kind of ruin.

He kept her in his shadows,

a secret worshipped in silence.

She trembled against his hold,

longing for air,

for sky,

for light.

He called her his desire, his curse.

She called herself his secret ache.

When their worlds came apart,

they did not scream.

The fire dimmed,

the ash settled.

No thunder, no fury -

only the quiet knowing

that some loves

burn best

in silence.