Antipathy

We washed and dried the last full load
As night washed out the day.
Our silence felt like warmth between
The walls of green and grey.
We danced there once among the stars,
Two fire lights at play.
Between the curtains, books, and keys,
None knew you would betray.

These longed-for nights of quiet bliss,
The moonlight on the bay,
The shelves I built and gave to you,
The candles in the tray,
The hopeful days before the storm
That caused you once to stray—
All these things could not have known
That you would walk away.

How could that silence feel so right
When all we knew would fray?
You strayed again and more again
Until you would not stay.
You snuffed the flames that fed our love.
Was that the only way?
How could we dance then? How could we
Have nothing left to say?