they said, “the best way to retain the spark of life in a relationship is to not take it for granted”, like keys before they're lost— like breathing. “instead, treat her like an oasis in the desert, love her like a mirage you'll never capture; covet her. because the desire is in the chase”, they said. i believed them. it worked. and that spark bloomed explosions like daisies caressing the sun, the way a nuke goes off and leaves every house for miles vibrating & tingling with its touch & the vestiges of its breath. but what am i supposed to do now? what can anyone do in the aftermath of apocalypse? i chase the sun with bleeding palms that cry for mercy, pleading with the ephemeral divine, reaching for the ungraspable with unrequited phone calls & roses but what can i do? tell me what can i do now that my love is a sisyphean curse and my thoughts are a herculean hearse filled with rot as my memories return with love unreturned and my heart still burns and the spark still bursts and my heart still burns and she still stays gone?