Without Naming You

I would tell you this
if I knew how to say it
without naming you.

I watched a leaf burn.
Quickly—
green, then black.

I almost blew out the flame
to keep it from aching.

But I didn’t.

I watched it whelp
in its own cracking

two small red places
burning inside the dark.

And I thought of you.

Not because you are the fire.

Because I could have stopped it.

I didn’t.