a hearth gone cold

arqios

 

"Hearth Gone Cold"

The fire has collapsed inward,
a scatter of grey where once
flames spoke in restless tongues.

The stones still carry warmth—
not silence, but a weight
pressed into their surface.

I sit before the hearth,
hands open to absence,
palms cupped around nothing.

Even the smoke has lost
its path to the rafters.
What remains is not flame,

but the trace of heat,
a presence that lingers
long after the light is gone.











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Comments5

  • sorenbarrett

    Cryptic you have a knack of infusing deep feeling into your images. This poem in its consistency of metaphor leaves a feeling of melancholy, a sadness that builds through the poem and lingers after it is finished just as the heat lingers after the fire has gone out. A absolutely masterful write and a fave

    • arqios

      Am really appreciating this right now, Soren. Thank you for saying that. I was hoping the imagery would carry that kind of lingering sadness, so it’s great to hear it came through for you. I love the way you put it, about the feeling staying on like the heat after the fire’s gone out. That’s exactly the echo I was aiming for. Thanks so much for the fave, it means a lot. πŸ™πŸ•ŠοΈ

      • sorenbarrett

        You are most welcome Cryptic. I do not give faves lightly but many of your poems are deservedly worthy of one. They are poems that the reader needs to absorb not those that shine on the surface but have no substance. It is the devoted reader that feels your masterful craftmanship.

      • Tristan Robert Lange

        My friend, this breathes with quiet grief...the fire gone, yet its ghost still warming the stones. You’ve written the language of loss in embers and silence. Powerfully penned! πŸŒΉπŸ–€πŸ™πŸ•―οΈπŸ¦β€β¬›

        • arqios

          Grief is a challenge and your much welcome words bring that squarely to the floor. challenge adequately met. Thank you dear friend πŸ•ŠοΈπŸ™πŸ»

        • orchidee

          Good write A.

          • arqios

            Thanks OπŸ•ŠοΈπŸ™πŸ»

          • Goldfinch60

            That heat and light will always come back to you Rik.

            Andy

            • arqios

              They do indeed, thanks Andy πŸ•ŠοΈπŸ™πŸ»

            • NafisaSB

              a sad story - told well - nowadays the blaze is more in the battlefields than at home - the hearth is indeed cold, and so are the hearts - and all that remains are memories

              • arqios

                So true safina, thank you kindly πŸ•ŠοΈπŸ™πŸ»



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