Pondering divorce number two


I.
That same night you smoked
a joint, threw your wedding band away
for good,
I tended my campfire
alone,
watched sparks jump Montana skies,
blew smoldering embers
red again, all the while hoping.

II.
My tarnished ring,
too old really
for so long a marriage, wears
thin. I must give
it up, let
some vituperative jeweler
undertake
any further salvation.

III.
Why
is it when I tend some fires,
I fix them for good,
undercut glowing frame,
cool kindled sticks,
make each twig
seek darkness,
not burning heat, the light?


Timothy Pilgrim