Before Fire Took the Last Photograph

I held it
like a last breath
a moment frozen
before everything shattered

The photo curled
as flames whispered secrets
I never knew
a face half gone, a truth half shown

Not all pictures speak
some scream silently
and no one dares
to ask what burned away

There was no storm
no broken glass
just the slow betrayal
of paper and ash

Her smile faded first
then the corners of her eyes
as if even the fire
couldn’t bear to see them cry

Smoke climbed gently
like it knew this memory
was too heavy
to fall to the floor

I smelled lies
in the burning ink
half a promise
left behind in the fire

The photograph never blinked
but I did
and when I opened my eyes
it was gone

Some memories choose
to burn themselves
before someone
questions what they hide

She told me once
that not all love is light
some love lives
only long enough to leave a scar

The frame cracked
just before the fire kissed it
as if time itself
refused to hold the truth any longer

I stood alone
but not cold
because fire doesn’t only destroy
it teaches

And what it taught me
was this:
the past never disappears
it just waits for fire to set it free