Orange glow of separation

 The argument had eaten through the available exits
Just a fight a domestic dispute

Two people standing in a building after the fire
Arguing grimly about where the furniture should go

A future spent years drawing up between them
Now a municipal ruin
Paperwork soaked through
Foundations disagreeing with the house

The problem sat in the room like a thing delivered.
No one wanted to claim it
No one could move it

They walked back and forth
avoiding the centre,
Where floorboards developed opinions

Words came out dreadfully specific
Small instruments.
Each one inspected, sharp and placed between them

Neither shouted
Yet what a dangerous arrangement

Across the room curtains held an orange glow
late afternoon caught in the fabric
like trying to escape a burning envelope

The sun continued outside
Indifferent disciplined
Its right rays operating beyond the glass.

Dust moved through the light
small organisms enjoying the warmth

The room had not been taught and stood ignorant
Ashamed yet horny

It continued bathing awkwardly in the orange glow
its stupid suggestion that warmth was still available

They divided the future
Each one knowing what would be abandoned
and what would follow them

The curtains continued to glow
The house kept its mouth shut

And between them
the problem remained
heavy as those metal fixtures
Holding up the sun