Pegman took us to Sambor Prei Kuk Temple, Cambodia today. What an amazing place. I wandered around the grounds until I found this amazing picture. My 119-word story follows.
Oh, we are a pair are we not?
Wound around one another’s lives
One of us limber and forgiving
The other solid and stern
We laugh over the details
of our failures
We cry over the unforgivable losses
Children
Parents
Homes
Jobs
Joy
Not because either of us is to blame
but because there is no one to blame
We cling and claw our way
through days
And languish in our nights
Making love
or fighting
It doesn’t matter which
Because each brilliant dawn
we awaken with the hope
that one of us will
Let go
Cling tighter
Love harder
Turn away
Or we will both
remain the same
and get on with it
Until we are no more
Up From the Ashes 
Holy moly what an amazing sight you’ve found, and what a sad and lovely metaphor you found in it. Such a beautiful poem!
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Thanks, K! It seems so odd to me that I’m leaning toward poetry these days because I don’t think of myself as a poet and really don’t know the mechanics of it. I just sort of make stuff up. So glad you like it, though! Lish
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I missed that building in my look round, an extraordinary sight and matches your words perfectly. Well done.
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Thanks, Iain. I scrolled past it twice but it kept calling my name! What a great spot, yes? Now I want to add Cambodia to my bucket list.
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Absolutely, along with so many other places.
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Beautiful image, Lish. I like the poem too. I sometimes will lean toward poetry instead of fiction. There’s something about its sparsity that I enjoy, like the pillars of a cathedral. It lets a lot of light through.
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Oh! That – like the pillars of a cathedral. It lets the light through – is a wonderful comparison. Poetry tends to make one chop-chop the words for good structure. Thanks for the wonderful vision.
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That’s a lovely poem. Beautiful. Thank you, Alicia
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No, thank YOU! Penny
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I agree with the others – a gorgeous image. And I love how you’ve used it as a metaphor for a complicated relationship – that mix of characters, the pushing and pulling, hoping they will either grow stronger or fall apart, just do something to change the cycle. Wonderful Alicia
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Thanks, Lynn. I’d written the opening line on a scrap of paper a few months ago. I have a whole pile of such lines next to my computer and plow through them every now and again. That one fit so nicely with this picture.
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Lovely to have a stock of ideas to hand – especially on ‘dry’ days writing. A great poem
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Dear Lish,
You are an amazing poet. Beautiful verse, full of emotions and metaphor.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Hey! You’re making me blush. Thanks so much for your kind words. A wonderful compliment from a great fellow author. Lish
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Great poem and use of the image. What an amazing picture you found 🙂
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It is a cool picture! Thanks for reading my poem and liking it!
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This poem wound itself around my mind, then my heart, as if it were alive. I absolutely loved it. Thank you, Lish. So despairing yet so beautiful.
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Wow, thanks for your kind words.
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The picture is so beautiful I thought nothing could do justice to it. And then I read your poem – I am speechless.
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And I am pleased that you like it. Thanks, Dahlia
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