Twinkling

Setting the backdrop

Of our last life

Of reminiscent smiles

In the life before.

Clinking, softly

Unsettling, clearing

Of our dinner dishes

Of our candlelight wishes

Scintillating.

From the soufflé bistro

Way back in a French rue

To the authentically remote

Italian trattoria

Where we ate “real” pizza.

Illuminating

The lost nights

From the tried and true

Taverna in old St. Pete

To the clamoring cantina

In that smoky southern port.

When we had a chance

To be together

Under the electric stars

Strung like summer fairy tails

But our story ended there

When our kindling hearts

Went unattended.

Flickering, doused

Smothered, by some other,

Cinders set to wind

Once the starry-eyed lights

Turned off,

Blackened and

Burned

Out.