Ashes in the Rain

By Nadeem Shah

I. Wilt

You loved me

the way a fire loves paper—

brief, wild,

and ending in smoke.

I built a home out of your warmth

and watched it burn

without even screaming.

II. The Echo

I called your name

in every empty room.

The silence answered

more honestly than you ever did.

Even ghosts

would have stayed longer.

III. Holding On

I kept your lies

folded in my chest

like old letters

from someone

who promised to write again.

I wore pain like perfume—

familiar,

lingering,

invisible

until someone got close enough

to smell it.

IV. Ashes in the Rain

I stood in the storm

and let the sky cry with me.

No umbrella.

No shelter.

Just grief,

washing away the illusions.

The rose I held wilted

as the wind scattered

the ashes

of everything I once hoped for.

Still—

I didn’t pick it up again.

V. Learning to Leave

You don’t need someone to leave you

to feel abandoned.

Sometimes

they stay just long enough

to make you forget

who you were before them.

But today,

I remembered.

And I walked away

not because I hated you—

but because

I finally loved me

more.

VI. Rebirth

The rain stopped.

The sky opened.

Not with sunshine,

but with space.

And for the first time,

I didn’t ache in the quiet.

I breathed.

And that—

that was enough.

Author’s Note:

Sometimes the hardest part of healing is accepting that what hurt you once isn’t yours to carry anymore. These poems are for anyone learning to let go—not with bitterness, but with grace. You deserve peace.

— Nadeem Shah