House Fire (Burning The Past)

Today we watched a house burn together.

She used to live on the first floor
In an apartment there.

We had split up
Long before then.
She lived there
With her boyfriend
At the time.

And now the top two floors
Were on fire
Flames darting in the windows
As rolling black clouds
Vented up into the
Rainy December sky.

Five days before Christmas.

I watched her as she spoke to the girl
That lived in the upstairs apartment.

She told me later
That the same girl resided upstairs
When she had lived there.

The girl was sobbing as she
Watched her present life
Ablaze
Being fought with forceful water
From a dozen fire engines.

My ex’s life had spun out of control
Centrifugal
Even before she lived in this apartment.

While she lived with me.

The eye of the storm continued to worsen
With each move
While she lived here
And then the next
And the next
And the next...
Until her life had burned up
Unrecognizable.

I tried to get a read on her face
About how she felt
Or what she was thinking
As we stood on the sidewalk
Half a block up
From the fire.

It was like I was blind.

Still.