As the Flame Flickers Out

 How do you live within the confines of a man's heart?
The walls seem so impenetrable, and oft shrink without warning.
The air grows thin on nothing and you suffocate in an endless, echoing silence.

You try to decorate the space with your warmth, your love, your light,
But the darkness permeates even the farthest corners, to resist your every illumination;
How do you live within the confines of a man's heart?

You think yourself lacking patience, a failure, terrible with affections,
You spend countless nights in worry and in wonder, trying to understand;
The walls seem so impenetrable, and oft shrink without warning.

The pleading words, the hopeful compromises, the optimism -
All increasingly fade as the flame flickers out in a trail of wispy black smoke;
The air grows thin on nothing and you suffocate in an endless, echoing silence.