The sun shone down on our quiet valley;
But I only knew the light in your eyes
Blood-beat in your cheeks set mine on fire.
When your feet honored the space between mine
Our bodies danced to let our mouths stand still—
Contentment held me close in all those days.

High noon came and scorched our lovely valley;
Your lips shot poisoned seeds like darts. Our days
Together began to look like fire;
Resentment shimmered. We tried to keep still.
Your needs were all too heavy: they crushed mine.
Fragility still looks strange in these eyes.

I like to think we could have made it still;
If the sky had held out a few more days.
Boulders rained from our traitorous valley;
There were hurricanes of rock and fire.
I remember your hands searching for mine.
When dusk settles I see your tortured eyes.

Hopeless feet stomped out our once green valley
Like the ground, not the sky, held the fire.
I dug my hole to know which grave was mine
As if home could be so dead and so still!
I couldn’t help crave something for my eyes
Alone. Scorched grief warped decades into days.

This is home now, these ruins: yours and mine,
The last thing we’ll share after all these days.
Your bones will rot here in our – my – valley.
You walked on and left us while I stood still,
Sluggish from the false peace of the storm eye.
On the horizon curls still more fire.

Heaven has exiled us from our valley
The earth sealed it behind us with fire.
No one should have to bear all these dead eyes,
Though there are those of the dead that blink still.
I have struggled to make my peace for days
Calling this sunken cherry pit face mine

If there are any eyes looking down still
I’m sorry for the days I thought were mine
No one ever left the fire valley