Marie Lecrivain

Khem

I watched Khem light the fire.
The first spark leapt from his eyes
& onto the woodpile,
which kindled into being.
Soon, the flames ascended
into the indigo sky
as he fed one item
after another into the blaze;
the handmade cradle,
her wedding dress, their photo
albums, the Ikea furniture,
& then, his beloved
volumes of Shakespeare;
through his fingers clutched
at the collection of sonnets
a nano-second longer
than the previous tomes.
Lastly, he pulled off
his wedding ring,
held it up to the light,
the gold band glinting
a final, agonized plea
before my amazed eyes.
He cast the ring into the fire,
turned to me, smiled,
& whispered, Ut supra, ut infra,
as he became one with the dark.

Marie Lecrivain is the executive editor and publisher of poeticdiversity: the litzine of Los Angeles, is a Pushcart Prize nominee, and is a writer in residence at her apartment. Her latest collection, Love Poems… Yes… REALLY… Love Poems, will be published in 2013 by Sybaritic Press.