Unfired

I keep the sentence loaded, never fired.
Something in me hums and will not speak.
This is the charge in a room grown tired.

You sit across from me, the light expired,
both of us too proud to be the weak
one who keeps the sentence loaded, never fired.

The clock does nothing that could be admired.
Its hands just tick the way our silence leaks.
This is the charge in a room grown tired.

I've rehearsed the words. I've reacquired
the courage twice, and twice let both retreat.
I keep the sentence loaded, never fired.

What is a marriage but two wires wired
so close, so long, they've learned to skip the heat?
This is the charge in a room grown tired.

Someday one of us won't be required
to answer for the things we didn't seek.
I'll keep the sentence loaded, never fired.
This is the charge in a room grown tired.